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116,023,539 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | New Yellowstone Dam Challenged Over Sturgeon Worries | New Yellowstone Dam Challenged Over Sturgeon Worries | Wildlife advocates plan to challenge the approval of a new Yellowstone River dam to benefit farmers that critics say could kill off a dwindling population of a fish dating to the time of dinosaurs.
A bypass channel for the irrigation dam would be built near the Montana-North Dakota border to let endangered pallid sturgeon reach upstream spawning grounds.
But scientists don't know if the fish would use the channel.
Wildearth Guardians and the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a court filing Friday they are negotiating with officials on how to proceed following last month's dam construction approval by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.
The groups have a lawsuit pending over the $57 million project.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris temporarily blocked it in 2015. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/yellowstone-dam-challenged-sturgeon-worries-44513571 | CENTER |
115,922,799 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Authorities: 4 Killed at Home in Apparent Murder-Suicide | Authorities: 4 Killed at Home in Apparent Murder-Suicide | Authorities in South Carolina say four people were found dead in a home in what appears to be a murder-suicide.
Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a news release that the dead — a man, a woman and their two children — were found Sunday around 8 p.m. Fisher says it's believed all four died of gunshot wounds.
In a tweet from a verified Twitter account, the Lexington County Sheriff's Department said the deaths appear to be a murder-suicide and the investigation is ongoing.
Fisher identified the dead as 26-year-old Marissa Hope Reynoso and two of her children, 4-year-old Elijah Chavez and 1-year-old Ezra Chavez. Also dead was 25-year-old Jorge Luis Chavez, who's believed to be the father of the two children.
Fisher says an older child of Reynoso wasn't at the home at the time. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/authorities-killed-home-apparent-murder-suicide-44509341 | CENTER |
52,909,926 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Dozens Dead In Multiple ISIS Bombings Across Baghdad | Baghdad has seen a spate of deadly ISIS bombings in the last several days. On Monday alone, five blasts rocked the capital city, NPR's Alice Fordham reported. | Dozens Dead In Multiple ISIS Bombings Across Baghdad
Enlarge this image toggle caption Karim Kadim/AP Karim Kadim/AP
Dozens are dead in Baghdad after bombs were detonated across the city on Monday. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the bombings.
The death toll from the attacks is still climbing.
NPR's Alice Fordham reported on the bombings, telling our Newscast Unit:
The first attack came in Sadr City on the edge of Baghdad, still reeling from a bombing on Saturday. The bomber pretended to be recruiting casual laborers for the day, so those killed were mainly poor manual workers. The next ones came at roughly the same time near two hospitals in the city, followed by three bombs in the poor Shaab area of the city.
The BBC reported that at least 35 people were killed and at least 61 injured by the blast in Sadr City, which is a "predominantly Shia Muslim" neighborhood. The BBC wrote: "The Sunni jihadist group Islamic State said it had carried out the attack, which 'targeted a gathering of Shia.' "
Reuters reported that "nine of the victims were women in a passing minibus." The news service wrote: "Their charred bodies were visible inside the burnt-out remains of the vehicle. Blood stained the ground nearby."
The attacks followed other bombings in the city on Saturday, which killed 28 people, according to the BBC. Reuters wrote also wrote that "an attack near the southern city of Najaf on Sunday left seven policemen dead."
Monday's attacks coincide with an Iraq visit by French President Francois Hollande. Hollande gave a press conference with Iraqi prime minister Haider al Abadi, vowing to defeat ISIS.
"The terrorists will attempt to attack civilians in order to make up for their losses, but we assure the Iraqi people and the world that we are able to end terrorism and shorten its life," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, according to the BBC.
The ISIS bombings come as Iraqi security forces continue their offensive to push the self-proclaimed caliphate from the country. The U.S.-supported offensive was launched in mid-October, as the Two-Way reported, and has recaptured part of the city of Mosul, the terrorist group's last major stronghold in Iraq.
According to Reuters, "Abadi has said the group will be driven out of the country by April." | Laura Wagner | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/02/507884769/dozens-dead-in-multiple-isis-bombings-across-baghdad?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=world | LEFT |
52,907,956 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Trump Continues To Question Evidence That Russia Meddled In U.S. Election | Donald Trump has said he is not convinced that Russia was behind the hacking. This week, he'll meet with representatives of the intelligence community to discuss their findings about Russian hacking. | Trump Continues To Question Evidence That Russia Meddled In U.S. Election
Donald Trump has said he is not convinced that Russia was behind the hacking. This week, he'll meet with representatives of the intelligence community to discuss their findings about Russian hacking. | Scott Horsley | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854102/trump-continues-to-question-evidence-that-russia-meddled-in-u-s-election?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=politics | LEFT |
53,008,446 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Facebook Apologizes For Challenging Santa Claus's Identity | A resident of North Pole, Alaska, whose legal name is Santa Claus, recently got a notice from Facebook saying he needed to prove his identity. Mr. Claus provided his passport and driver's license. | Facebook Apologizes For Challenging Santa Claus's Identity
A resident of North Pole, Alaska, whose legal name is Santa Claus, recently got a notice from Facebook saying he needed to prove his identity. Mr. Claus provided his passport and driver's license.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. We all have to answer security questions online from time to time, even Santa Claus. A resident of North Pole, Alaska, whose legal name is Santa Claus recently got a notice from Facebook saying he needed to prove his identity. Mr. Claus provided his passport and driver's license. Facebook gave him back his account and an apology saying, we're sorry. Our team processes millions of reports each week, and we sometimes get things wrong. No word on if Santa is keeping Facebook on the naughty list. It's MORNING EDITION.
Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | null | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854116/facebook-apologizes-for-challenging-santa-clauss-identity?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | LEFT |
52,949,895 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Deterioration Of Iraq's Massive Mosul Dam Reaches Crisis Point | The Mosul Dam in Iraq requires perpetual maintenance, which has been difficult amid Iraq's war with ISIS. If the dam collapses, the resulting wave could kill more than a million people. Dexter Filkins, staff writer for The New Yorker, speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish about what's being done to avert that potential disaster. | Deterioration Of Iraq's Massive Mosul Dam Reaches Crisis Point
The Mosul Dam in Iraq requires perpetual maintenance, which has been difficult amid Iraq's war with ISIS. If the dam collapses, the resulting wave could kill more than a million people. Dexter Filkins, staff writer for The New Yorker, speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish about what's being done to avert that potential disaster. | null | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507922310/deterioration-of-iraqs-massive-mosul-dam-reaches-crisis-point?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered | LEFT |
115,969,012 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | The Latest: Trump Takes Dig at Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel | The Latest: Trump Takes Dig at Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel | The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
1 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump is taking a dig at Rahm Emanuel, Chicago's mayor and President Barack Obama's former chief of staff.
The nation's third largest city had 762 homicides in 2016 — the most in two decades and more than the largest cities, New York and Los Angeles, combined. The Chicago Police Department says the city had 1,100 more shootings last year than in 2015. The statistics have put Chicago at the center of a national dialogue about gun violence.
Trump on Monday noted the spike in shooting deaths on Twitter. He wrote, "If Mayor can't do it he must ask for federal help!"
Emanuel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
———
8:10 a.m.
Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer is defending cryptic comments by President-elect Donald Trump that he knows "things that other people don't know" when it comes to allegations of Russian hacking.
Spicer tells Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" that Trump is getting national security briefings "on a daily basis" and "there doesn't seem to be conclusive evidence" Russians were behind the hacking of Democratic emails during the election.
Spicer also dismissed on Monday a report released by the FBI and Homeland Security Department supporting the accusations against Russia, calling it a "how-to" manual on basic cybersecurity for Democrats.
In an interview on NBC's "Today Show," Spicer said President Barack Obama only punished Russia after Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the election and that the recent sanctions were politically motivated.
Trump has said he will get a briefing from U.S. intelligence officials this week. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-trump-takes-dig-chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-44514272 | CENTER |
52,906,337 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Cities Ready To Resist Trump Calls For Deportations | Local leaders in at least 30 states are taking a defiant stance against threats by the incoming Trump administration to deport immigrants living illegally in local communities. | Cities Ready To Resist Trump Calls For Deportations
Audio will be available later today.
Local leaders in at least 30 states are taking a defiant stance against threats by the incoming Trump administration to deport immigrants living illegally in local communities. | Adrian Florido | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507922193/cities-ready-to-resist-trump-calls-for-deportations?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | LEFT |
115,927,811 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Venezuela Searches for Missing Helicopter in Amazon Jungle | Venezuela Searches for Missing Helicopter in Amazon Jungle | Venezuelan teams are searching in the Amazon rain forest for a military helicopter that went missing with as many as 13 people on board.
Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas says the Russian-built aircraft was supposed to have landed in the tiny settlement of La Esmeralda on Friday.
He didn't say how many people were on board, but local media reported the army helicopter was carrying 13 people, including five civilians.
Villegas said eight military airplanes were in the area and would continue their search until the aircraft was located.
. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/venezuela-searches-missing-helicopter-amazon-jungle-44517733 | CENTER |
115,945,087 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | 17 Still Missing After Indonesia Boat Fire Kills 23 | 17 Still Missing After Indonesia Boat Fire Kills 23 | A search resumed Monday for 17 people reported missing after a ferry fire off the coast of Indonesia's capital that left at least 23 dead, officials said.
The victims died Sunday when the vessel, Zahro Express, carrying more than 260 people from a port near Jakarta to Tidung, a resort island in the Kepulauan Seribu chain, caught fire, officials said. Most of the passengers were Indonesians celebrating the New Year holiday, according to local media reports.
Dito, an official from the Jakarta Search and Rescue Agency, said at least five ships and a number of speedboats and rubber boats were deployed in the search.
Of the 224 passengers who were rescued, 32 were being treated at three hospitals, said Dito, who uses a single name.
Seply Madreta, an official from the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the fire gutted about half the vessel, and that 23 bodies had been recovered.
Twenty bodies that were found inside the vessel were burned beyond recognition and were transferred to a police hospital for identification, said Col. Umar Shahab of the Jakarta police health department.
Witnesses told MetroTV that the fire broke out about 15 minutes after the ferry left the port of Muara Angke.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Some passengers told local media that they first saw smoke coming from the ferry's engine.
The director for sea transportation, Tonny Budiono, said the initial suspicion was that the fire was "most probably caused by a short circuit in the engine room."
He told a news conference the short circuit might have led to the fuel tank exploding.
TV footage showed people in the water with the ferry in flames in the background. A woman in the water can be heard screaming "Ya Allah! Ya Allah!" or "Oh God! Oh God!"
Another woman told the TV station that she and other passengers were rescued by a small boat.
Despite the high number of people who were rescued, the ferry's manifest showed that only 100 were registered as passengers, along with six crewmen, said Denny Wahyu Haryanto, head of the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency. He said the vessel's captain was under police investigation over the incident.
Ferry accidents are common in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic nation, with more than 17,000 islands. Many accidents are blamed on lax regulation of boat services. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/17-missing-indonesia-boat-fire-kills-23-44508400 | CENTER |
115,854,048 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Afghan Sets Self Alight at German Supermarket Warehouse | Afghan Sets Self Alight at German Supermarket Warehouse | German police say that a 19-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker has suffered serious burns after setting himself on fire at a supermarket warehouse in Bavaria.
Police said that the man poured gasoline over himself and set himself ablaze early Monday in Gaimersheim, a town between Nuremberg and Munich. He had bought the gasoline shortly before at a filling station.
The blaze was extinguished swiftly by other people at the scene, but the man was seriously injured.
The man's motives weren't immediately clear. Police say he was carrying a knife but didn't use it. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-sets-alight-german-supermarket-warehouse-44509171 | CENTER |
115,964,024 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Germany Sees No Future for Assad Despite Military Gains | Germany Sees No Future for Assad Despite Military Gains | Germany says it doesn't believe Bashar Assad can continue as Syria's leader under a future peace agreement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer says that Assad's forces capturing eastern Aleppo and other parts of northern Syria "strengthens the regime" and its hand in political negotiations.
But Schaefer told reporters in Berlin on Monday that Germany's assessment that "Assad can't play a permanent role in a peaceful future for Syria" hasn't changed now that his forces are blamed for 300,000 deaths in the six-year war.
Schaefer said opposition groups wouldn't accept any deal to form a transitional government unless Assad's powers were sharply curtailed.
Germany is involved in diplomatic efforts to forge a peace agreement in Syria and has contributed significant funds toward humanitarian relief for those affected by the conflict. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-sees-future-assad-military-gains-44510096 | CENTER |
4,444,674 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | House overwhelmingly votes to condemn UN resolution on Israel settlements | The House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted Thursday to rebuke the United Nations for passing a resolution criticizing Israeli settlements. | The House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted Thursday to rebuke the United Nations for passing a resolution criticizing Israeli settlements.
Lawmakers voted 342-80 in favor of the bipartisan non-binding resolution, which declares unwavering support for Israel and insists that the United States reject any future U.N. actions that are similarly "one-sided and anti-Israel."
A visibly angry House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. opened debate on the resolution by saying that the Obama administration "abandoned our ally Israel when she needed us the most."
"Do not be fooled," Ryan said. "This U.N. Security Council resolution ... was about one thing and one thing only. Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state.
"These types of one-sided efforts are designed to isolate and delegitimize Israel. They do not advance peace, they make it more elusive."
The House measure divided Democrats, 109 of whom joined 233 Republicans in approving the measure. However, nearly 80 more opposed the measure because they said it contained inaccuracies and distorted the complexities of the Middle East peace process. They also accused Republicans of attacking Obama unfairly in the waning days of his presidency.
"The point of the measure seems to be to bash Obama on the way out," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who along with many other Democrats still voiced strong support for Israel. They said Obama deserved credit for engineering last year's new, long-term security agreement that gives Israel $38 billion in U.S. military aid, including $5 billion for missile defenses.
A similar bipartisan measure to reprimand the U.N. has been introduced in the Senate. "Israel is always the bad guy in the eyes of the United Nations," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the measure's co-sponsors.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the resolution "proved once again that the US-Israel alliance is based not only on shared interests, but also on shared values ... This special relationship has endured the test of time and I have no doubt that it will continue to be strengthened in the future."
Israel and its supporters lashed out at Obama for his decision to abstain and allow the U.N. Security Council to approve in December a resolution calling Israel's settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem "a flagrant violation under international law."
Although the U.S. is opposed to the settlements, it has traditionally used its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council to scuttle resolutions that condemn Israel. Disputes between Israel and the Palestinians must be resolved through direct negotiations, according to longstanding practice and policy.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, accused Obama of a "shameful ambush" and said he was looking forward to working with Trump, whom he described as his friend.
But Secretary of State John Kerry said in a late December speech that the U.S. was standing up for a two-state solution when it abstained on the resolution. He criticized Israel for settlement building and blamed Netanyahu for dragging Israel away from democracy.
Kerry said expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are leading to an "irreversible one-state reality."
The Palestinians seek the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war, for an independent state. They say that Israeli settlements in these areas, now home to about 600,000 Israelis, are threatening their plans for independence by taking in lands where they hope to establish their state.
The U.N. resolution, along with Kerry's speech, essentially endorsed the Palestinian position by calling for the pre-1967 lines to serve as the reference point for a final border.
Netanyahu, who opposes a return to the 1967 lines, has condemned the moves as "skewed" and "shameful."
Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the Republican chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the panel's top Democrat, sponsored the House measure. The U.N. resolution "undermines the prospect for Israelis and Palestinians resuming productive, direct negotiations," according to their legislation, and should be "repealed or fundamentally altered."
Attention from the move by the U.N. last month could provide fuel for pro-Israel initiatives favored by conservatives on Capitol Hill. For example, a small group of Republican senators is proposing to withhold 50 percent of the State Department's 2017 budget until the U.S. Embassy in Israel is moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised to shift the embassy.
But a spokesman for Jordan's government told The Associated Press on Thursday that the embassy move would be a "red line" for Jordan and "inflame the Islamic and Arab streets." Jordan serves as custodian of a major Islamic shrine in east Jerusalem and the Palestinians seek a capital there.
Fox News' Chad Pergram, FoxNews.com's Jonathan Wachtel and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/05/house-overwhelmingly-votes-to-condemn-uns-anti-israel-resolution.html | RIGHT |
115,951,135 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Environmentalists Protest Hunting Bison Plan in Poland | Environmentalists Protest Hunting Bison Plan in Poland | Environmentalists are protesting Poland's plan to allow hunters to shoot bison, while authorities say it is necessary for the well-being of the herd and will earn money for its upkeep.
Greenpeace had gathered well over 7,000 signatures by Monday afternoon on a letter asking Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to stop the plan. They say Europe's largest mammals, which live in old-growth forests in northeastern Poland, are protected by law and a symbol of Poland's nature.
Environment authorities have allowed the hunting of 10 bison in the Borecka forest, saying the herd there is too large and threatened with tuberculosis. They say limited hunting allows for a controlled elimination of weak animals, while earning funds to support the others. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/environmentalists-protest-hunting-bison-plan-poland-44511416 | CENTER |
52,906,045 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Muslims Won't Be A Passing Victim In Trump's Administration, Nashashibi Says | Last year saw a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in America. Rachel Martin talks to Rami Nashashibi, executive director of the Inner City Muslim Action Network, a non-profit organization in Chicago. | Muslims Won't Be A Passing Victim In Trump's Administration, Nashashibi Says
Last year saw a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in America. Rachel Martin talks to Rami Nashashibi, executive director of the Inner City Muslim Action Network, a non-profit organization in Chicago.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
There's been a lot of talk in the past year about hate crimes against minority groups. As we begin 2017, we wanted to hear how it feels to be a member of one of those groups being targeted right now, Muslim Americans. Rami Nashashibi leads a Chicago nonprofit called the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. When we reached out to him, in our conversation he brought up the San Bernardino shooting in December of 2015 when a Muslim couple shot and killed 14 people. Nashashibi told me a story about how that attack affected him from a distance. He said shortly after the shooting he was in a park on the south side of Chicago with his kids.
RAMI NASHASHIBI: As I typically always do with my children, when it comes time for one of the prayer times, I'll pray publicly. And I stood watching them play and became mindful of a couple of cars that were driving up. There was a moment where I paused, quite frankly, about whether or not this was the smartest thing to do. And one of my daughters caught me in that moment, and it was just an innocent question about why I was hesitating to pray. And...
MARTIN: She was calling you out.
NASHASHIBI: She was calling me out.
MARTIN: Nashashibi says, for him, that moment illustrated the complexity of what it means to be a Muslim American in the age of al-Qaida and ISIS. And at that time, the presidential election was just kicking into high gear.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.
MARTIN: It was a refrain Trump repeated throughout the campaign. Last November, he also suggested that all Muslims in the country be included in some kind of government registry. But Nashashibi worries that singling out individuals based on their religion is tantamount to calling all Muslims terrorists.
NASHASHIBI: I get it. ISIS does effectively co-opt, appropriate parts of the Islamic tradition. There's no doubt. I mean, we see that unfortunately in all religious traditions. But I think the question for us is not to be blinded or naive to what is happening across the globe, but when it comes to language, language matters. And what my 10-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old daughter and my 5-year-old son grow up seeing on CNN, you know, Muslim terrorists, that matters. That has profound psychological effects on children.
MARTIN: We've seen all kinds of people go to Trump Tower to bend the president-elect's ear on a variety of issues. If you were granted 15 minutes with the next president, what would you say?
NASHASHIBI: On some level, I think I would say that whipping up the worst of the sentiments of America, using fear to mobilize people, at the end of the day will come back to haunt us, all of us, and that our community is not going to simply settle for being passive victims in this administration. We are going to organize. We are going to mobilize, and we're going to make sure our voices are heard.
MARTIN: Rami Nashashibi is the founder of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network based in Chicago. Rami, thank you so much for your time.
NASHASHIBI: Thank you, Rachel.
Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | null | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854088/muslim-community-wont-be-a-passing-victim-in-trumps-administration-nashashibi-sa?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | LEFT |
116,016,901 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Turkey Faces More Turmoil as Violence Continues | Turkey Faces More Turmoil as Violence Continues | The deadly New Year's attack on a ritzy Istanbul nightclub has brought more turmoil to Turkey and shown how the conflict in neighboring Syria easily can spill over to threaten Europe's stability.
The mass shooting's bleak coda came into sharp relief Monday: Islamic State militants claimed the "heroic soldier" who gunned down revelers with a high-powered rifle at the jam-packed Reina nightclub as one of their own as police tried to find the fugitive, who is believed to have escaped in the mayhem he caused.
The assault that happened in the second hour of 2017 bookended another holiday season terror in Europe — the Dec. 19 attack at a Christmas market in Berlin. Both IS-linked assaults were carried out with the simple, low-tech approach that seems to be gaining favor with extremists.
In Berlin, a Tunisian extremist drove a large truck into the crowded market, killing 12. The Istanbul gunman killed a police officer and security guard outside the nightclub, then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, leaving a total of 39 dead and dozens wounded.
This is the reality facing Europe as the Islamic State group loses territory in Syria and Iraq, but maintains followers, returning fighters and sleeper cells in the West eager to launch attacks.
———
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THE ATTACK
The Islamic State group has many countries in its sights, and has claimed credit for high-profile attacks on France, Germany and Belgium while threatening Britain time and again. Turkey, which shares a large, porous border with Syria, is an appealing target because it is a NATO ally of the United States that has attacked IS positions in both Syria and Iraq.
For IS militants facing the loss of territory that comprises part of their self-proclaimed caliphate, carrying out successful attacks in other countries is an important reminder that the group still is a force to be reckoned with — and feared. And it is relatively easy for IS sympathizers to infiltrate Turkey and to move around in densely populated urban areas.
The Reina nightclub might have been chosen because it is popular with an international clientele and well-to-do locals, including many from the worlds of entertainment and sports. It also serves alcohol, which is prohibited on IS-held territory. The Reina had a strong security detail, but the gunman opened fire on a policeman and a civilian outside the club and quickly gained entry.
Once inside, it was not difficult to claim many victims. But his ability to kill so many and still elude police is worrisome — and has left Turkey on edge.
———
TURKEY'S VULNERABILITY
Turkey's location as a crossroads linking Europe and the Middle East has made it susceptible to rising tensions and rival factions throughout the region and brought in a huge number of migrants trying to get to western Europe.
Before the nightclub shootings, the country already had endured attacks from Islamic State militants and Kurdish separatists. There were dozens of substantial attacks last year alone as extremists tried to spread instability and damage the important tourist industry.
The list reads like a primer on modern terror tactics: a coordinated attack on the Istanbul airport in June that killed 44, a January suicide bombing that killed 12 German tourists, an August suicide attack on a Kurdish wedding party that killed at least 51 celebrants, and many others.
The cycle of violence, and a failed military coup in July that claimed about 270 lives, has led President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take a more authoritarian approach. The government is also seeking to crack down on websites and social media users who praise extremist actions.
———
HOW CAN EUROPE PREVENT MORE ATTACKS?
Shifting extremist tactics have created new challenges for security agencies. Police and intelligence agencies say that "soft" public targets like nightclubs and sporting events are virtually impossible to comprehensively defend; there are too many of them. And as the Berlin, Istanbul and earlier attacks in France and Belgium brutally illustrated, a person with an automatic weapon or a heavy truck is armed with deadly force.
Extra layers of security, and some impregnable physical barriers, were added at some European landmarks for New Year's Eve celebrations to prevent a repeat of the Berlin attack, but it would not be possible to protect every popular club in every city and town.
The potential targets are plentiful and symbolic: In Berlin, a Christmas market long part of the city's festive tradition, in Istanbul, a New Year's party that represents Turkey's partial embrace of Western-style revelry.
The Berlin gunman escaped the scene and managed to cross into France and then Italy, where he was shot dead by police in a confrontation near Milan. In Istanbul, police say they have the gunman's fingerprints and a general description. Turkish officials said Tuesday they are close to being able to identify him, but where he remains at large is unknown. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-faces-turmoil-violence-continues-44514848 | CENTER |
115,899,605 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Iran Publishes List of Bidders for Oil and Gas Projects | Iran Publishes List of Bidders for Oil and Gas Projects | Iran's Oil Ministry has published list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for oil and gas projects following the lifting of sanctions under a landmark nuclear accord.
The list published on the ministry's website Monday includes several multinational firms, among them Total, Shell, Eni, Gazprom and Schlumberger.
In October, Iran invited foreign companies to bid for 50 exploration and production projects for the first time since the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Iran has upgraded its model for oil contracts, allowing for the full recovery of costs over almost two decades. In October, Iran signed the first such contract with a local oil company. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-publishes-list-bidders-oil-gas-projects-44510813 | CENTER |
116,028,220 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Cologne Police Boss Regrets New Year Tweet on North Africans | Cologne Police Boss Regrets New Year Tweet on North Africans | Cologne's police chief says he regrets his force's use of the term "Nafris" to describe North Africans in a New Year's Eve tweet, but dismissed suggestions it engaged in racial profiling.
Officers stopped hundreds of North African men heading into downtown Cologne on Saturday to prevent a repeat of sexual assaults that marred New Year's celebrations a year earlier.
The department wrote on Twitter: "Hundreds of Nafris screened at main railway station."
Critics accused police of stopping people on their appearance alone. Opposition Green party co-leader Simone Peter told the Rheinische Post the term "Nafris" was "completely unacceptable."
Police Chief Juergen Matthies said Monday the department has used the term internally since 2013 to describe young North Africans regarded as particularly violent or criminal. He says it wasn't meant for public use. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cologne-police-boss-regrets-year-tweet-north-africans-44511247 | CENTER |
52,911,994 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Obama To Make His Presidential Farewell Address In Chicago | George Washington began the tradition of the Presidential farewell address in 1796. President Obama will continue the tradition with a speech January 10th at Chicago's McCormick Place. | Obama To Make His Presidential Farewell Address In Chicago
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Since George Washington penned his farewell address in 1796, announcing he would not seek reelection and laying out his hopes and fears for the nascent country, presidential farewell speeches have become an enshrined tradition in the peaceful and democratic transfer of power.
President Obama announced Monday that his farewell speech will be Tuesday, Jan. 10 in Chicago. It will be held at McCormick Place, the venue for Obama's 2012 Election Night celebration. In announcing the speech, Obama said he's just starting to write his remarks but he's "thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here."
Presidential farewell speeches have historically been a chance for presidents to defend their accomplishments and lay out their hopes for the future. In some cases, the speeches have included pointed warnings that reverberate long after the speech has ended. For example, in his farewell address on Jan. 17, 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower warned the country about the growing might of the military, and in doing so, coined the term "military-industrial complex," the relationship between the U.S. armed forces and defense contractors. NPR's Tom Bowman reported on the lasting impact of this speech in 2011, noting that it "has become a rallying cry for opponents of military expansion." Bowman said:
Eisenhower was worried about the costs of an arms race with the Soviet Union, and the resources it would take from other areas — such as building hospitals and schools. Bowman says that in the speech, Eisenhower also spoke as someone who had seen the horror and lingering sadness of war, saying that "we must learn how to compose differences not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose." Another concern, Bowman says, was the possibility that as the military and the arms industry gained power, they would be a threat to democracy, with civilians losing control of the military-industrial complex.
In his farewell address on Jan. 15, 1953, President Harry Truman reflected on and defended his decision to drop the atomic bomb in Japan and mused about the start of the Cold War era. He said:
I suppose that history will remember my term in office as the years when the "cold war" began to overshadow our lives. I have had hardly a day in office that has not been dominated by this all—embracing struggle—this conflict between those who love freedom and those who would lead the world back into slavery and darkness. And always in the background there has been the atomic bomb.
President Ronald Reagan named the deficit as one of his regrets in his address to the nation on Jan. 11, 1989. He called out "popular culture" saying:
For those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom. ... And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile. It needs production. So we've got to teach history based not on what is in fashion, but what is important.
In President Bill Clinton's speech on January 18, 2001, Clinton hailed the economic progress under his administration and called for the U.S. to be a beacon of freedom and peace in the world. He also saluted America's diversity, saying:
In our hearts and in our laws, we must treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of when they arrived in our country, always moving toward the more perfect union of our founders' dreams.
George W. Bush delivered his farewell address on Jan. 15, 2009. Despite his dismal approval ratings and a limping economy, he said, "You may not agree with some of the tough decisions I have made, but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions." He also called Obama's election "a moment of hope and pride for our whole nation."
Obama leaves office with his approval rating at a seven-year high, according to Gallup. Despite Obama's conciliatory post-election speech about president-elect Donald Trump, and his administration's ongoing transition work, Trump tweeted on Dec. 28: "Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks. Thought it was going to be a smooth transition - NOT!"
With the country fiercely divided after the election, Obama is expected to continue to strike a hopeful tone about the incoming Trump administration. And with much of his policy legacy — including his executive actions on immigration and the Affordable Care Act — at stake, it's likely Obama will use his address to defend his actions. | Laura Wagner | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/02/507888027/obama-to-make-his-presidential-farewell-address-in-chicago?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=us | LEFT |
115,940,048 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Out of Power, State Dems Frustrated With National Committee | Out of Power, State Dems Frustrated With National Committee | Democrats around the country are demanding change from a national committee they say has focused too heavily on the White House at the expense of governorships, legislatures and state party operations.
"It's got to be helping us organize in our states to be able to build that power at the state legislative level," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon said of the Democratic National Committee, currently searching for a new leader. "We've lost governorships and state legislatures at a rate that is pretty astounding."
DNC members gather in February to elect a new chairman, with five candidates running so far, each pledging to rebuild from the ground up. Money from the DNC to state parties has been inconsistent during President Barack Obama's tenure and, in most states, less than it was under former chairman Howard Dean. Party chairs say that's resulted in fewer staff members and training programs, a change felt particularly in Republican-leaning states. State leaders also say Obama's grassroots group Organizing for Action has functioned more like competition than a partner.
Beginning in 2017, Republicans will hold 33 governorships and fully control legislatures in 25 states, as well as the Congress and presidency. During Obama's two terms in office, the party lost more than 1,000 seats at the state and national level.
"I love President Obama, but he and his administration allowed for the deterioration, the terrible deterioration, of the state parties over the last eight years," said Mark Brewer, who led the Michigan Democratic Party for 18 years.
Obama has announced plans, though, to improve Democrats' down-ballot fortunes once he leaves office. He is launching an initiative with former Attorney General Eric Holder aimed at making Democratic gains when states redraw legislative district lines following the 2020 census. Democrats have blamed Republican gerrymandering for some of their losses in Congress and state legislatures.
State officials say it's been hard to plan long term and recruit and train candidates in off-election years due to inconsistent funding from the DNC. Under Dean, the national party installed and paid several staff members in each state. But that program ended after Obama's election. State parties began to receive monthly payments of anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, an amount that varies depending on the year. At some point, the parties have received no money at all. The DNC does provide some money to state parties for elections based on the state's competitive races and other factors.
The change has left some states scrambling.
The Nebraska Democratic Party, for example, paid five full-time staff members during Dean's tenure. But when Dean's "50-state strategy" ended, it was hard to keep one and pay the rent, said Maureen Monahan, a vice president of the Association for State Democratic Chairs from Nebraska. Some states, such Mississippi, do not pay their party chairs. Even in Michigan, a staff that once stood at more than a dozen now is between five and seven employees, party chairs said.
"The past eight years we have not had any focus on the state parties," Monahan said. "There's been a sense that the DNC is a building in Washington."
The push-and-pull between state parties and the DNC is nothing new. State parties, congressional Democratic groups and the president's allies often spar over how best to spend party resources. The DNC defended its involvement with states.
"State parties are the lifeblood of the DNC, and we make investing in all of them a priority because they are an integral part of winning up and down the ballot. State parties were critical to picking up Senate seats, House seats, legislative chambers and governorships in 2016, and their importance will be a key focus for the party as we elect new officers in February," DNC spokesman Adam Hodge said.
Marcel Groen, Pennsylvania Democrats' chair, said it's unfair to blame Democrats' troubles completely on the national party. But he said a focus on recruiting and running Democrats even in low level races in Republicans areas can help the top of the ticket in the long term.
"We can't expect people in rural areas, in red areas, to vote for our presidential candidates or our gubernatorial or Senate candidates if they've never seen a Democrat running for school board or county office," he said. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/power-state-dems-frustrated-national-committee-44511939 | CENTER |
52,916,769 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Russia Denies U.S. Findings That It Tried To Influence U.S. Election | Rachel Martin talks to veteran Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner about how the story of a possible Russian computer hack designed to influence the U.S. election is playing out inside Russia. | Russia Denies U.S. Findings That It Tried To Influence U.S. Election
Rachel Martin talks to veteran Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner about how the story of a possible Russian computer hack designed to influence the U.S. election is playing out inside Russia.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President-elect Donald Trump says he has new information about Russia's efforts to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, and he intends to share that information in the next couple of days. Late last week, President Obama responded to the Russian hacking with an order to expel 3,500 diplomats, close two Russian compounds in the U.S. and sanction several government operations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin countered by doing nothing. He didn't expel any American diplomats. In fact, he invited them and their families over to the Kremlin for New Years celebrations. We're going to check in now with longtime Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner. Mr. Pozner usually talks to us from Moscow, but this morning, he's interrupting his vacation in Argentina to join us. Mr. Pozner, happy new year.
VLADIMIR POZNER: Happy new year right back to you. I'm in Patagonia surrounded by half a million penguins.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
POZNER: I'm trying to interview them, but they don't talk to me. I don't know why.
MARTIN: (Laughter) Don't know a lot about U.S.-Russian relations probably either. So let's talk about the end of 2016 when it comes to the U.S.-Russian dynamic. It went out with a bang, not a whimper. How is all of this being perceived in Moscow?
POZNER: Well, you know, the general feeling I get is that, first of all, the reaction to President Obama's sanctions was first one of almost disbelief and then people started to laugh. And the comment was very sarcastic (ph) that, you know, here's a man who was on his way out who is a loser now vindictively is trying to punish Russia for something that he says has been going on for 10 years. And if it had, why did he wait until now to act on it? Really, I would say even though people - and there are some in Russia, believe me, who liked Obama. Even among them, there's this feeling that, well, why did we do this? It really makes no sense whatsoever.
And, of course, Mr. Putin now can play the very clever game doing the tit-for-tat, which is something that's always been done over the years. One country expels diplomats. The other countries followed suit. He comes out and says we're not going to do this, clearly indicating that he hopes for better relations with the United States thanks to the election of Donald Trump as president and maybe even thinks that Donald Trump, once he becomes president, will say forget about these sanctions. We're going to negate them. So that's pretty much, I think, the general feeling.
MARTIN: So back to the hacking. U.S. intelligence agencies say they have concluded that Russia is responsible for this interference in the U.S. election. Russia, though, continues at every turn to deny any role in this. Have they been able to show any evidence that bolsters their claim?
POZNER: I've heard this now - I'm different from Donald Trump. I'm no expert in internet things and I can't say that I know this or I know that. But I have spoken with people who work for Mr. Kaspersky. I don't know if you're familiar with that name, but he runs an outfit (ph) which is one of the three top antivirus, anti-hacking agencies in the world. And I asked him is it really possible - it is possible to identify where hacking is coming from? Can you actually pinpoint it? Have you got the real possibility to do that?
And the answer I got was that, no, nobody does. What we can pinpoint is the language it's coming in from, say, Russian or English or Chinese. And, of course, anyone can use any language, but we cannot - as yet we do not yet have the technical ability to really say here's where it's coming from. So with that in mind, I don't think that the U.S. intelligence agencies can furnish that definite proof. And certainly the Russians cannot furnish proof that they didn't do it.
MARTIN: Just very briefly, these two men, Trump and Putin, seem to be in a honeymoon. Can it last?
POZNER: Frankly, I would hope it will, but I don't think so. First of all, it's not really a honeymoon 'cause you can't have a honeymoon when you're at a distance with each other. You've got to be a bit closer to a honeymoon, I believe. They haven't yet met face to face. They haven't got a real feeling for each other whether there's any chemistry involved there, and that's very important, you know. When Gorbachev met with Reagan, they really took to each other. And that led to some of the great things that they did achieve.
MARTIN: Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner, Mr. Pozner mentioned Kaspersky in our conversation. We should note NPR runs Kaspersky anti-virus programs on its computers and Kaspersky is a cooperate sponsor of NPR News. Thanks again, Mr. Pozner.
POZNER: Thank you. Happy new year to you. Bye.
Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | null | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854123/russia-denies-u-s-findings-that-it-tried-to-influence-u-s-election?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | LEFT |
115,850,409 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Afghan Official: Police Officer Killed in a Bomb Blast | Afghan Official: Police Officer Killed in a Bomb Blast | An Afghan official says that at least one police officer has been killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Logar province.
Salim Saleh, spokesman for the provincial governor in Logar, said Monday that four other people including a district police commander and three road construction engineers were wounded in the blast.
Meanwhile at least six people were wounded in another explosion near the western city of Herat Sunday evening.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks in Logar and Herat provinces. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-official-police-officer-killed-bomb-blast-44509408 | CENTER |
115,867,875 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Democrats Extol Health Care Law in Bid to Derail GOP Repeal | Democrats Extol Health Care Law in Bid to Derail GOP Repeal | Senior House Democrats on Monday extolled the benefits of President Barack Obama's health care law in hopes of derailing Republican plans to gut the statute and over time replace it.
In a conference call with reporters, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the GOP will begin its "assault" on the health care law when the 115th Congress convenes Tuesday. She said abolishing the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, as Republicans have promised will mean that people will pay more for their health insurance while getting much less than they do now. Undoing the law also will undermine Medicaid and Medicare, she said.
Currently Republicans plan to vote quickly on repealing the health care law and delay the effective date to give them time to craft a replacement. Pelosi blasted that strategy as "an act of cowardice." She urged people to "take a second look" at how the health care law has improved their lives.
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said he believes that many people who voted for President-elect Donald Trump want the health care law preserved even though Trump made repeal of the statute a central part of his campaign.
"I think a lot of people are going to be looking at this and saying, 'Gee, I really didn't mean that,'" Hoyer said.
Republicans have opposed Obama's law since Democrats steered the law through Congress in 2010. The GOP has tried numerous times to repeal the law but failed due to internal divisions and Obama's veto power. But with the GOP in control of the House and Senate and Donald Trump set to become president in a few weeks, doing away with "Obamacare" is in sight for Republicans.
GOP lawmakers are expected to spend the next several months working on legislation to cancel broad swaths of the law that the party's voter base staunchly opposes. Most likely to go are the law's mandate that people buy health insurance or face hefty IRS fines, and its expansion of Medicaid coverage to more lower-earning Americans. But several elements of the repeal likely wouldn't go into effect for two to four years.
Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Republicans are "blind to the success" of the health care law. Repealing the law is rooted in politics, he said, and will hurt middle class Americans.
"Repealing the Affordable Care Act is not logical; it's simply ideological," Pallone said. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/democrats-extol-health-care-law-bid-derail-gop-44514850 | CENTER |
115,877,054 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Son of Equatorial Guinea's President Facing Trial in France | Son of Equatorial Guinea's President Facing Trial in France | The son of Equatorial Guinea's president is going on trial in France for corruption, money laundering and embezzlement after a years-long investigation.
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also Equatorial Guinea's second vice president, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of acquiring real estate, luxury cars and other goods in France with public funds from his country.
Obiang's lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, said he will ask for a delay in proceedings when the hearing starts Monday, arguing that his client — who is not expected to attend the trial — did not get enough time to prepare his defense.
The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, refused to order France to halt the prosecution last month after Equatorial Guinea argued that Obiang had immunity. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/son-equatorial-guineas-president-facing-trial-france-44508703 | CENTER |
52,872,597 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | The Two-Way : NPR | Norm Eisen, a former ethics adviser to President Obama, says the president-elect needs to divest, but Trump himself has remained steadfast that his potential business conflicts are "no big deal." | Ethics Expert: Trump's Efforts To Address Conflicts Are 'Baby Steps'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP
As Donald Trump prepares to become president, he's promising to explain how he'll deal with the many conflicts of interest posed by his businesses and charitable foundation, even as he insists they pose "no big deal."
But short of selling his properties and putting the proceeds in a blind trust, it's not clear that Trump can completely resolve the controversies over his many businesses.
"There's a uniform consensus among everyone who does government ethics for a living ... those who are still in government and those who have left government, that Donald Trump must divest," says Norm Eisen, former ethics adviser to President Obama, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. "He's got to sell his holdings, through using a blind trust or the equivalent of it, as every president has done for 40 years."
Since his election, Trump has settled some outstanding legal disputes, including lawsuits over Trump University and unionization drives at hotels in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.
Trump's efforts to put these issues behind him suggest he recognizes that he and his family face serious conflicts of interest, Eisen says.
"That being said, [Trump's actions] are not enough. They are baby steps, when what we need is a giant leap," Eisen says.
Trump says he will hold a press conference soon to explain his plans for his extensive network of businesses, but hasn't said when it will take place.
An earlier press conference to address the issue was canceled in December. His transition team cited the complexity of Trump's businesses and said he needed more time to decide what to do.
But Trump himself suggested to reporters in Palm Beach last week that addressing the conflicts was a simple matter and said his businesses are "no big deal."
"When I ran, people knew I have a very big business. So, I mean, they elected me at least partially for that reason. So I think that's going to work out very easily. It's actually a very simple situation," he said.
One issue that Trump appears eager to put behind him involves his charity, the Trump Foundation.
Trump has been accused of using money from the charity, most of which was donated by other people, to pay expenses related to his businesses. The foundation has acknowledged "self-dealing" on its tax returns, although it's unclear what specific violations took place.
Trump announced on Christmas Eve that he would shutter the foundation, a move that makes sense, says former IRS official Philip Hackney, associate professor of law at Louisiana State University.
"It begins to eliminate a minor conflict. I really think the Trump Organization is a much more significant conflict than the Trump Foundation was ever close to being," Hackney says.
But the New York Attorney-General's office, which is investigating the charity, quickly scotched the idea of shutting it down prematurely.
Closing the foundation too soon could complicate the investigation, Eisen says.
"We don't want any information to disappear into the ether when the charity closes. That's a particular problem for Donald Trump because he has a propensity for secrecy," he says. | Jim Zarroli | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/02/507888256/trump-facing-many-conflicts-of-interest?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=us | LEFT |
115,957,968 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | With Roof as His Own Lawyer, Sentencing Begins in Slayings | With Roof as His Own Lawyer, Sentencing Begins in Slayings | The same jury that last month unanimously found Dylann Roof guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church is returning to court to begin contemplating his punishment.
With the 22-year-old representing himself, the process is sure to be unconventional. But even if Roof is sentenced to death, it's highly unlikely he'd be executed anytime soon.
While prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, Roof said last week he plans on calling no witnesses and presenting no evidence.
Roof was found guilty last month on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion. A jury took less than three hours to return its verdict, and a judge dismissed the jury for a break over the holidays.
Typically in what's known as the sentencing phase, defense attorneys call relatives and other witnesses to testify about their client's unsteady state of mind before and during the crimes. Given that background, the defense hopes, a jury might be more likely to spare the defendant's life and opt against the death penalty.
But Roof, who is acting as his own attorney, has said he plans to do no such thing.
In his journal, which was read in court during his trial, Roof said his doesn't believe in psychology, which he called "a Jewish invention" that "does nothing but invent diseases and tell people they have problems when they don't."
Roof also seems to be determined to try to keep evidence embarrassing to him or his family out. Not only did he take over his own defense, but he asked the judge at a hearing Wednesday if he could file a motion limiting what prosecutors can introduce.
Roof also was adamant that a transcript of a hearing where he was found mentally competent not be released to the public.
"I know this is not a legal argument, but the unsealing of the competency hearing defeats the purpose of me representing myself," Roof said at last week's hearing.
Neither Roof, nor U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel nor prosecutors have given specifics on the evidence Roof is objecting to.
On Thursday, Gergel ordered another competency evaluation of Roof "in an abundance of caution," after his standby counsel filed a sealed motion again questioning Roof's mental ability to proceed. The judge's order specified he saw no reason to delay Tuesday's start of the penalty phase.
Roof's lawyers tried repeatedly both to stop him from being his own lawyer and to work mental health-related evidence into the first phase of his trial, saying they feared Roof fired them because he feared the attorneys would present evidence that would embarrass him when trying to save his life.
Prosecutors objected at every turn, and Gergel wouldn't allow any of it into court, ruling mitigation evidence is allowable during sentencing and not before.
Court papers show prosecutors are expected to present evidence showing that Roof picked his victims because of their race, killed them to incite more violence, showed no remorse and killed three particularly vulnerable people who were 70 years old or older.
Evidence speaking to Roof's mental state, one expert argues, could make the difference between life and death.
"The Dylann Roof case is a classic example of the type of problem you can have when an obviously mentally ill or emotionally disturbed defendant is permitted to represent himself," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "There's a huge difference in the eyes of a jury between someone they perceive as evil or despicable and someone they perceive as being seriously mentally ill. ... If you take mental health out of it, you are putting a thumb on the scale of death."
Both the judge's decision to allow Roof to represent himself and waive the introduction of mental health evidence are sure to be raised in an inevitable appeal, Dunham argued.
Roof also faces nine murder charges in state court, where prosecutors have also said they will seek the death penalty in a trial likely to begin sometime next year.
Whether he's sentenced to death or not, it's unlikely Roof would be executed anytime soon, in either jurisdiction. The federal government hasn't executed anyone since 2003, and there are years of appeals between a death sentence being levied and carried out.
South Carolina's death chamber hasn't been used since 2011, due at least in part to a lack of availability for the drugs the state uses for lethal injection.
———
Associated Press writer Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.
———
Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP . Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/meg-kinnard/ . | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/roof-lawyer-sentencing-begins-slayings-44508331 | CENTER |
55,283,532 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | Key Congressional Power Players to Watch in 2017 | With a President Trump and a Republican-dominated House and Senate, the dynamic in Washington is going to be much different in 2017. | For the first time since 2010, Washington will be a one-party town and the Republicans on the cusp of controlling the presidency and both houses of Congress are already preparing an ambitious agenda.
After six years of partisan gridlock, GOP leaders of the 115th Congress begin a new session Tuesday eager to roll back much of President Barack Obama's crowning achievements, including the Affordable Care Act, as well as advance their own policies, like tax reform, that have been mothballed for years. And they will be navigating the new terrain with a mix of familiar faces and new names on the scene.
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In the leadership, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will continue to be instrumental players who will guide their members, negotiate with incoming President Donald Trump and dictate the agenda. They will continue to be two of the most powerful people in Washington.
But while their goals are likely to be the same, the challenges they face will be different. Ryan will have to keep his diverse caucus united to pass legislation and McConnell, with a majority of 52 senators, will likely need the support of eight Democrats to pass anything controversial or significant. That means legislation coming out of the Senate must have at least some bipartisan appeal, and in order for it to pass the House, the legislation will have to be conservative enough to appease Ryan's most right-leaning members.
The most critical figure in the opposition is a familiar face in a new role — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. He replaces retired Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada who kept Senate Democrats in line, defended his members and put up fierce opposition to any Republican proposal or tactic he thought was unpalatable. Schumer has indicated a more conciliatory approach, vowing to work with Trump on areas where he thinks they could agree like on jobs and infrastructure.
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Because senators have expanded the use of the filibuster, it often takes the support of 60 senators to pass legislation. Schumer's 48-member caucus can easily block bills, but it's going to be up to Schumer to try and keep his caucus from defecting to vote with Republican measures if they are going to truly block the GOP agenda.
Regardless of his style, his success will be measured on the results. Schumer will drive the Democrats' messaging to voters, which will largely dictate how effective Democrats are over the next two years.
Outside of leadership, these lawmakers are expected to be critical players on Capitol Hill over the next two years:
REPUBLICANS:
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine: Collins is a moderate Republican who Democrats could turn to for help in blocking some components of the Republican agenda. While Democrats won't dictate the agenda on the Senate floor, they could offer amendments to alter legislation, and getting the support of Collins could help Democrats win small victories.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nevada: Of all the 33 senate seats up in 2018, Heller is the only Republican up for re-election in a state that Trump lost. Heller will have to spend the next two years navigating Trump, his Republican leadership, and his prospects for re-election. If Trump is unpopular, especially in Nevada, Heller could become a critical swing vote for Senate Democrats.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina: Meadows is the new leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, which consists of about 40 Republicans who demand a limited government and prefer a uncompromising approach. As their leader, Meadows will be one of the most influential members of the House. Speaker Ryan will have to ensure that he has the support of Meadows and his fellow Freedom Caucus members if he is to pass any legislation without having to gain the support of Democrats.
As chair of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz will be tasked with deciding how to handle potential legal or ethical conflicts of the incoming administration. Cliff Owen / AP
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah: The head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been bullish on investigating the Obama administration, including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The question is if he will give the same due diligence to oversight during a Trump administration. If he decides to conduct a thorough vetting of Trump and his appointees, he could become one of the most interesting and closely watched members to determine the areas where Republicans are not pleased with their president.
Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia: Price has been tapped as Trump's secretary of health and human services, but until he is confirmed by the Senate, he will play a central role in the first few weeks of Congress in January. As head of the Budget Committee, he will oversee the budget that includes repeals of many aspects of the Affordable Care Act. He wrote the legislation, called Reconciliation, passed in 2015 to repeal much of Obamacare and it is likely to be the blueprint for repeal in 2017. As HHS secretary, he is expected to work very closely with members on a replacement of the health care law.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona: McCain is an old name in the Senate, but the moniker "maverick" he adopted during his 2008 presidential run is likely to make a comeback. He is no fan of Trump, and as head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he and his committee could cause problems for Trump's foreign policy, including Trump's forgiving stance toward Russia.
DEMOCRATS
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont: Fresh off a presidential bid where he amassed a large and passionate following, his new role in Democratic leadership is outreach liaison. Sanders will be instrumental in determining if Democrats can effectively message to white working class voters — voters Trump won overwhelmingly. This fiercely independent senator will now be responsible for seeing if Democrats can make any gains with these voters in two years.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia: Manchin is up for re-election in 2018 in one of the ten states Trump won that Democrats must now defend. Manchin, who describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially compassionate, could defect from Democrats on some issues and play a critical role in Republicans' strategy to pass their agenda.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana: Donnelly is another senator, like Manchin, who is up for re-election in a Trump-won state. The difference between Manchin and Donnelly, however, is that Donnelly is considered the most endangered incumbent. Indiana voted for Trump by 19 points, which means Donnelly, who is serving his first term, will have to make some very tough decisions on how he votes on the Senate floor. All eyes will be on him to see if Republicans can pass a bill or Democrats will be able to block it.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri: Also from a Trump-won state and up for re-election in 2018, McCaskill is a solid Democrat, but she has been known to exert her independence at times. If her re-election is looking more difficult as 2018 nears, McCaskill could be a good place to look when Republicans need to reach across the aisle.
Rep. Joe Crowley, D-New York: Crowley was elected to House leadership as chair of the Democratic caucus. While he's been in office since 1999, Crowley is seen as the bridge between Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team, which came under pressure to step down by some members, including younger and newer members. He's ambitious but well-liked, and he could help to steer Democratic policy in a direction that younger members would prefer. | Leigh Ann Caldwell | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/key-congressional-power-players-watch-2017-n698241?cid=public-rss_20170102 | CENTER |
4,659,367 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Sentencing begins with Dylann Roof acting as his own lawyer | The same jury that last month unanimously found Dylann Roof guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church is returning to court to begin contemplating his punishment. | The same jury that last month unanimously found Dylann Roof guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church is returning to court to begin contemplating his punishment.
The sentencing phase of Roof's federal trial begins Wednesday in Charleston. He could face the death penalty or life in prison.
KNIFE-WIELDING MAN SHOT TO DEATH BY NEW YORK POLICE
Roof is representing himself but has said he plans to call no witnesses or introduce any evidence. His former legal team has said Roof fears embarrassing himself or his family.
Prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church.
After a daylong hearing Monday, a judge again found Roof competent to represent himself and stand trial for sentencing. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/04/sentencing-begins-with-dylann-roof-acting-as-his-own-lawyer.html | RIGHT |
4,649,060 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Authorities search for Army reservist who escaped detention center | Massachusetts state police said Monday they have recovered a stolen car believed to have been used by a former Army reservist who was charged with stealing 16 guns from a U.S. Army Reserve Center and escaped from a Rhode Island detention center. | Massachusetts state police said Monday they have recovered a stolen car believed to have been used by a former Army reservist who was charged with stealing 16 guns from a U.S. Army Reserve Center and escaped from a Rhode Island detention center.
Authorities said James Morales remains at large. U.S. marshals said the Cambridge, Mass., native scaled a building at the Wyatt Detention Center and climbed over razor wire before he was reported missing Saturday night. They believe Morales is wounded and bleeding from the razor wire.
Police said Morales likely fled to Attleboro, Mass., and stole the car. They found the car Sunday afternoon.
The FBI said Morales stole assault rifles and handguns from an armory in Worcester, Mass., in 2015. Morales also faces child rape charges.
Morales was last accounted for during a head count at 7 p.m. on Saturday, according to Fox affiliate WFXT. The last escape at the Wyatt Detention Center was in 1996.
Two individuals assigned to the area Morales escaped from have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
Morales, 35, has an eagle neck tattoo and anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call 911.
Click for more from Fox 25
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/02/authorities-search-for-army-reservist-who-escaped-detention-center.html | RIGHT |
115,936,630 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | The Latest: 38 of 39 Istanbul Nightclub Victims Identified | The Latest: 38 of 39 Istanbul Nightclub Victims Identified | The Latest on the Istanbul nightclub attack (all times local):
12:20 p.m.
Turkey's state news agency says 38 of the 39 victims of the New Year's attack on an Istanbul nightclub have been identified.
The Anadolu news agency, citing unidentified Turkish justice ministry officials, says 11 those killed by a gunman who escaped were Turkish nationals and one was a Turkish-Belgium dual citizen.
The report says seven victims were from Saudi Arabia; three were from Lebanon and Iraq each; two nationals were from Tunisia, India, Morocco and Jordan each. Kuwait, Canada, Israel, Syria and Russia each lost one citizen.
Sixty-nine people were also wounded. Anadolu says one victim remains unidentified.
Relatives of the victims and embassy personal were seen walking into an Istanbul morgue to take the bodies of the deceased.
Turkish officials haven't released the names of those identified.
———
12 p.m.
Turkey's state-run news agency says more than 100 Islamic State targets in Syria have been hit by Turkey and Russia in separate operations, a day after a deadly attack at a popular Istanbul nightclub during New Year's celebrations claimed by the group.
Citing the Turkish Chief of General Staff's office, Anadolu Agency said Turkish jets struck eight IS group targets while tanks and artillery fired upon 103 targets near Al Bab, killing 22 extremists while destroying many structures.
Anadolu added that Russian jets also attacked IS targets in Dayr Kak, eight kilometers (five miles) to the southwest of Al Bab.
Turkey sent troops into neighboring northern Syria in August to clear a border area of IS militants and curb territorial advances by Syrian Kurdish forces.
———
11:45 a.m.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Istanbul shooting that killed 39 people and wounded scores of others.
The IS-linked Aamaq News Agency said the New Year's attack was carried by a "heroic soldier of the caliphate who attacked the most famous nightclub where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast."
It said the man opened fire from an automatic rifle in "revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders" of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The group described Turkey as "the servant of the cross."
———
10:10 a.m.
Turkish media reports say that authorities believe that the Islamic State group is behind the attack on a popular Istanbul nightclub during New Year's celebrations.
Hurriyet and Karar newspaper reports Monday cited unnamed security officials saying that authorities have determined that the gunman who killed 39 people comes from a Central Asian nation and is believed to be either from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.
Police had also established similarities with the high-casualty attack at Ataturk Airport in June and was investigating whether the same IS cell carried out both attacks.
The gunman, who is still at large, killed a policeman and another man outside the Reina club in the early hours of 2017 before firing at people partying inside.
Nearly two-thirds of the dead were foreigners, many from the Middle East. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-islamic-state-claims-istanbul-nightclub-attack-44508500 | CENTER |
115,959,292 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Under 3 Weeks Left: Obama in Closing Stretch of Presidency | Under 3 Weeks Left: Obama in Closing Stretch of Presidency | His last presidential vacation behind him, Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his presidency, an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump.
Obama returns to Washington midday Monday from Hawaii with about two-dozen work days left. His final days will largely be consumed by a bid to protect his endangered health care law, a major farewell speech and the ongoing handover of power to Trump.
In an email to supporters on Monday, Obama said he'll deliver a valedictory speech on Jan. 10, following a tradition set in 1796 when the first president, George Washington, spoke to the American people for the last time in office. The speech will take place at McCormick Place, a giant convention center in Obama's hometown of Chicago.
"I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here," Obama said.
Obama's chief speechwriter, Cody Keenan, traveled with Obama to Hawaii and spent much of the trip working on the speech. The Chicago trip will likely be Obama's last outside Washington as president and will be include a "family reunion" for Obama's former campaign staffers.
Obama is also planning last-minute commutations and pardons, White House officials said, in line with his second-term effort to cut sentences for inmates given unduly harsh sentences for drug crimes. Though prominent offenders like Edward Snowden and Rod Blagojevich are also asking for leniency, Obama's final acts of clemency are expected to remain focused on drug offenders whose plight Obama tried but failed to address through criminal justice reform.
After taking office eight years ago, Obama and his aides were effusive in their praise for how Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, helped his team take over the massive federal bureaucracy. Obama has vowed to pass on the favor to Trump. But the transition hasn't been without incident.
The two teams have clashed over the Trump team's requests for information Obama aides fear could be used to eliminate government employees who worked on Obama priorities like climate change and minority rights overseas. Trump's team, meanwhile, has been frustrated by Obama's attempts to box Trump in with parting moves to block ocean drilling, declare new monuments and further empty out the Guantanamo Bay prison.
While on his annual vacation in Oahu, Obama asserted himself forcefully on two foreign policy issues that put him in direct conflict with Trump. Obama directed the U.S. to defy tradition by allowing a U.N. Security Council resolution criticizing Israel on settlements to pass, then slapped Russia with sweeping penalties over U.S. allegations of hacking.
The final days are Obama's last chance to define his presidency before his loses the bully pulpit and cedes his legacy to historians. For Obama, helping Americans understand how his two terms have reshaped American life is even more critical amid concerns that Trump may undo much of what he accomplished, including the health law.
As Trump and Republicans vow to gut the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are working to devise a strategy to protect the law by exploiting GOP divisions about how to replace it. To that end, Obama will travel Wednesday to the Capitol to meet with House and Senate Democrats, likely his last meeting with his party's lawmakers as president.
His administration is also working feverishly to finish up regulations in the pipeline that Obama hopes can be completed in the final days, perhaps increasing the likelihood his policies carry over. But the closer it gets to Trump's inauguration, the harder those tasks become.
Though Obama remains president until Jan. 20, the White House can't process the departure of all its staffers on a single day. So this week Obama aides will start "offloading," turning in their Blackberries and shutting down their computers for the last time, leaving a smaller staff on hand for the final days.
Obama must also prepare to become a private citizen for the first time in two decades. An office of the former president must be stood up, and Obama's family will be making arrangements to move into a rental home in Northwest Washington where they plan to stay until youngest daughter Sasha finishes high school.
The Obamas have long lamented how the presidency denied them freedom and privacy, with first lady Michelle Obama likening the White House to "a really nice prison." But on their last Hawaii vacation, the first family took time out to visit Breakout Waikiki, where visitors are "trapped" in a room together and must try, as a team, to escape.
———
Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/weeks-left-obama-closing-stretch-presidency-44508261 | CENTER |
4,431,742 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Trump names lawyer Lighthizer as top trade rep | President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he will nominate lawyer Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative, picking an experienced trade official who has questioned the conservative movement's commitment to free trade. | President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he will nominate lawyer Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative, picking an experienced trade official who has questioned the conservative movement's commitment to free trade.
Lighthizer, who served as deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan, would play a key role in Trump's trade agenda. The president-elect has vigorously opposed the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, but has said he would ink one-on-one trade deals with individual countries. Trump has also signaled a tough stance on trade with China, including levying a hefty tariff on Chinese imports.
"Ambassador Lighthizer is going to do an outstanding job representing the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first," Trump said Tuesday in a statement announcing his pick. "He has extensive experience striking agreements that protect some of the most important sectors of our economy, and has repeatedly fought in the private sector to prevent bad deals from hurting Americans. He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity."
Lighthizer, who played a senior role during Bob Dole's 1996 campaign, has more recently worked on trade issues as a lawyer, representing manufacturing, agricultural and high-tech companies, according to his law firm biography. Lighthizer's bio also states that he focused on "market-opening trade actions on behalf of U.S. companies seeking access to foreign markets."
Yet in 2008, he openly questioned GOP presidential nominee John McCain's commitment to free trade in a New York Times opinion article.
"Mr. McCain may be a conservative. But his unbridled free-trade policies don't help make that case," Lighthizer wrote at the time, suggesting that free trade had long been popular among liberals.
"Moreover, many American conservatives have opposed free trade. Jesse Helms, the most outspoken conservative in the Senate for three decades, was no free trader. Neither was Alexander Hamilton, who could be considered the founder of American conservatism," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Trump returned to his New York headquarters Monday after spending the holidays at his private club in South Florida. With less than three weeks until his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump is expected to fill out a handful of remaining Cabinet-level posts in the coming days.
In addition to the USTR, Trump is also weighing picks to lead the departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as a director of national intelligence. In addition, Trump is still filling out some top White House positions.
Trump has already signaled that he plans to spread work on his trade policies beyond USTR. His transition team has said billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Trump's nominee to head the Commerce Department, will play a lead role on trade. The president-elect has also named economist Peter Navarro to a newly created White House National Trade Council.
Trump indicated Tuesday that Lighthizer would work "in close coordination" with Ross and Navarro.
Lighthizer declared his allegiance to Trump's approach on trade.
"I am fully committed to President-elect Trump's mission to level the playing field for American workers and forge better trade policies which will benefit all Americans," he said. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/03/trump-names-lawyer-lighthizer-as-top-trade-rep.html | RIGHT |
4,626,778 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Reports: IS believed to be behind Istanbul nightclub attack | Turkish media reports say that authorities believe that the Islamic State group is behind the attack on a popular Istanbul nightclub during New Year's celebrations. | Turkish media reports say that authorities believe that the Islamic State group is behind the attack on a popular Istanbul nightclub during New Year's celebrations.
Hurriyet and Karar newspaper reports Monday cited unnamed security officials saying that authorities have determined that the gunman who killed 39 people comes from a Central Asian nation and is believed to be either from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.
Police had also established similarities with the high-casualty attack at Ataturk Airport in June and was investigating whether the same IS cell carried out both attacks.
The gunman, who is still at large, killed a policeman and another man outside the Reina club in the early hours of 2017 before firing at people partying inside.
Nearly two-thirds of the dead were foreigners, many from the Middle East. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/reports-is-believed-to-be-behind-istanbul-nightclub-attack.html | RIGHT |
4,529,986 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Suicide car bomber outside Mogadishu airport kills 3: Police | A Somali police officer says a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu's international airport, killing at least three people. | A Somali police officer says a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu's international airport, killing at least three people.
Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the car bomber detonated the bomb Monday as security forces were searching cars at the checkpoint, few hundred meters (yards) from the main base of the African Union mission.
The checkpoint is close to United Nations offices and the Peace Hotel, which is often frequented by foreigners and officials. The powerful blast blew roofs off nearby buildings.
A second blast and heavy gunfire could also be heard at the checkpoint after the attack, but there were no immediate details.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. However, the al-Qaida linked Islamic extremist group al-Shabab often carries out such attacks.
Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds across large parts of south and central Somalia, the group continues to wage deadly attack across the country.
Somalia's capital has seen frequent bomb attacks at hotels and military checkpoints. The assaults have threatened this Horn of Africa nation's attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos. The country's presidential election, a key step toward recovery, already has been delayed multiple times because of security and other concerns. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/suicide-car-bomber-outside-mogadishu-airport-kills-3-police.html | RIGHT |
4,379,704 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Kremlin visit for children of diplomats expelled by US | A Russian state news agency says that the children of Russian diplomats expelled by the United States are being invited to a holiday gathering at the Kremlin. | A Russian state news agency says that the children of Russian diplomats expelled by the United States are being invited to a holiday gathering at the Kremlin.
The White House on Thursday ordered 35 diplomats out of the country as part of measures aimed at punishing Russia for alleged hacking interference in the U.S. presidential election. Many of them and their families arrived in Moscow early Monday.
Some officials complained that the expulsion ruined families' celebrations of New Year's Eve, Russia's main gift-giving festivity.
Elena Krylova, a spokeswoman for the presidential affairs administration, was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying that a visit for the children to see the holiday tree in the State Kremlin Palace is being organized. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/kremlin-visit-for-children-diplomats-expelled-by-us.html | RIGHT |
4,457,872 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Texas lawmaker hit by stray bullet on New Year's Eve, in stable condition | A Texas state lawmaker was shot in the head New Year’s Eve, the accidental victim of a stray bullet. | A Texas state lawmaker was shot in the head New Year’s Eve, the accidental victim of a stray bullet.
The victim, State Rep. Armando Martinez, was taken to a Brownsville-area medical center, near the Mexico border, then to a hospital where surgeons removed the bullet that had punctured his skull.
Martinez, a Democrat, said he never lost consciousness. He was reported Monday in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.
"I'm really thankful for all of their efforts," he told CBS affiliate KGBT News.
Martinez, a married father, was at home with his wife and friends when the incident occurred. He was reportedly struck upon stepping outside of the house shortly after midnight, apparently by a bullet fired by a holiday reveler.
"It felt like a sledgehammer hit me over the head," Martinez told KGBT from the hospital.
After a few moments, Martinez and his wife realized he'd been hit by the bullet, then rushed to the medical center.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting.
"We have reason to believe that he was hit by a bullet that was fired into the air," according to a statement released by Sgt. J.P. Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/02/texas-lawmaker-shot-by-stray-new-years-eve-bullet-stable-condition.html | RIGHT |
4,616,252 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Environmentalists protest hunting bison plan in Poland | Environmentalists are protesting Poland's plan to allow hunters to shoot bison, while authorities say it is necessary for the well-being of the herd and will earn money for its upkeep. | Environmentalists are protesting Poland's plan to allow hunters to shoot bison, while authorities say it is necessary for the well-being of the herd and will earn money for its upkeep.
Greenpeace had gathered well over 7,000 signatures by Monday afternoon on a letter asking Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to stop the plan. They say Europe's largest mammals, which live in old-growth forests in northeastern Poland, are protected by law and a symbol of Poland's nature.
Environment authorities have allowed the hunting of 10 bison in the Borecka forest, saying the herd there is too large and threatened with tuberculosis. They say limited hunting allows for a controlled elimination of weak animals, while earning funds to support the others. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/environmentalists-protest-hunting-bison-plan-in-poland.html | RIGHT |
4,597,850 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | AP FACT CHECK: Pope isn't seeking Islam, Christianity merger | A widely shared story that claimed Pope Francis called for merging Islam and Christianity is false. | A widely shared story that claimed Pope Francis called for merging Islam and Christianity is false.
The story quotes Francis as telling a Vatican audience: "Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths."
Another quote it attributes to Francis: "We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now."
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke tells The Associated Press the quotes are "invented."
An internet search reveals the fake quotes and various incarnations of the story have been shared by numerous websites since at least 2015. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/02/ap-fact-check-pope-isnt-seeking-islam-christianity-merger.html | RIGHT |
4,491,076 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Forest fire destroys homes in hills above Chilean port city | Fire driven by strong winds swept over forest land in the hills outside the Chilean port of Valparaiso on Monday, destroying dozens of homes, injuring at least 19 people and sending a pall of heavy smoke down onto the city. | Fire driven by strong winds swept over forest land in the hills outside the Chilean port of Valparaiso on Monday, destroying dozens of homes, injuring at least 19 people and sending a pall of heavy smoke down onto the city.
Authorities said the blaze started Monday afternoon in the Laguna Verde area and spread to Playa Ancha hill, where many wooden houses are located. About 400 people were ordered to evacuate as a precaution, officials said.
Interior Undersecretary Mahmud Aleuy said about 100 homes had been damaged, and regional Gov. Gabriel Aldoney said 500 more houses were "at risk." Aleuy said 16 of those injured had respiratory problems.
Fire brigades, soldiers and forest workers were in the hills combating the fire, which was fueled by winds up to 25 miles per hour (30 kph), low humidity and high temperatures. The fight was complicated because the area is crisscrossed by many ravines, the roads are narrow and water mains are scarce.
People in Valparaiso wore masks if they ventured into the streets trying to protect themselves against the smoke and fumes.
In 2014, a forest fire destroyed 2,500 homes and killed 15 people in the hills that surround Valparaiso. The colonial-era city known for colorfully painted cliff-top houses was designated a U.N. World Heritage Site in 2003. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/forest-fire-destroys-homes-in-hills-above-chilean-port-city.html | RIGHT |
4,554,550 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Yemen's children starve as war drags on | As the first light of dawn trickles in through the hospital window, 19-year-old Mohammed Ali learns that his two-year-old cousin has died of hunger. | As the first light of dawn trickles in through the hospital window, 19-year-old Mohammed Ali learns that his two-year-old cousin has died of hunger. But he has to remain strong for his little brother Mohannad, who could be next.
He holds his brother's hand as the five-year-old struggles to breathe, his skin stretched tight over tiny ribs. "I have already lost a cousin to malnutrition today, I can't lose my little brother," he says.
They are among countless Yemenis who are struggling to feed themselves amid a grinding civil war that has pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine. The family lives in a mud hut in northern Yemen, territory controlled by Shiite Houthi rebels, who are at war with government forces and a Saudi-led and U.S.-backed coalition.
The coalition has been waging a fierce air campaign against the rebels since March 2015, trying unsuccessfully to dislodge them from the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north. A coalition blockade aimed at preventing the Houthis from re-arming has contributed to a 60-percent spike in food prices, according to an estimate used by international aid groups.
During the best of times, many Yemenis struggled to make ends meet. Now they can barely feed themselves.
Mohammed's father works seasonal farming jobs that pay only a few dollars a day. Mohammed dropped out of school after the war began and scrapes by on occasional construction and farming work. Before the war, they could afford to eat beef or chicken once a week, but now they are lucky to have some fish with lunch. Their diet mainly consists of bread, rice and tea.
Earlier this month, Mohammed and his brother made the hour-long journey, over a bumpy and unsafe road, to the nearest hospital, in the town of Abs. Mohannad's condition, which began with diarrhea, had been worsening for the past two years, but they couldn't afford treatment.
Some 2.2 million children suffer from malnutrition across Yemen, according to the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF. That includes 462,000 who, like Mohannad, are afflicted with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), which makes them especially vulnerable to otherwise preventable illnesses like diarrhea and pneumonia.
UNICEF is supporting the treatment of 215,000 children suffering from SAM and has provided vitamin supplements to millions more, said Rajat Madhok, the agency's spokesman in Yemen. But "this lifesaving work remains hindered by the shortage of funding and limited access to areas caught in the fighting," he said.
The war has taken a heavy toll on the country's health facilities. A number of hospitals and clinics have been bombed, while others have had to close their doors because of the fighting. Less than a third of Yemen's 24 million people have access to health facilities, according to UNICEF, which says at least 1,000 Yemeni children die every week from preventable diseases.
Mohammed hopes his brother won't be next.
"I can see that my brother's condition is worsening day after day," he says. "There's nothing I can do." | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/yemen-children-starve-as-war-drags-on.html | RIGHT |
4,427,336 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | France's Holland starts official visit to Iraq | French President Francois Hollande has arrived in Iraq amid a fierce fight against the Islamic State group. | French President Francois Hollande has arrived in Iraq amid a fierce fight against the Islamic State group.
During his one-day visit which started on Monday, Hollande is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the capital, Baghdad. Later, he'll travel to the country's self-governing northern Kurdish region to meet French troops and local officials.
The visit comes as Iraqi troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are fighting IS in a massive operation to retake the northern city of Mosul.
France is part of the U.S.-led international coalition formed in late 2014 to fight IS after the extremist group seized large areas in Iraq and neighboring Syria and declaring an Islamic "caliphate." Like some European countries, France has suffered terrorist attacks claimed by IS. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/france-holland-starts-official-visit-to-iraq.html | RIGHT |
115,936,836 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Donald Trump Is No 'Email Person' but 'Knows Things About Hacking' | Trump Is No 'Email Person' but 'Knows Things About Hacking' | Although Donald Trump said this weekend that he knows “things that other people don’t know” about email hacking, he has also repeatedly admitted that he is “not an email person” and “almost never” sends it.
Asked Saturday about the Russian hacking allegations, President-elect Trump continued to cast doubt on the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
“If you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong. And so I want them to be sure,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, apparently referring to U.S. intelligence.
“I think it’s unfair if they don’t know. And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation,” he added.
Trump’s weekend comments were far from the first time he has weighed in on cybersecurity, dating back to the presidential campaign when he repeatedly said he doesn’t trust email, so rarely uses it.
“I'm not an email person myself. I don't believe in it,” he said at an event in Doral, Florida, July 27. “I think it can be hacked, for one thing. When I send an email, I mean, if I send one, I send one almost never. I'm just not a believer in email. A lot of people have taught me that, including Hillary [Clinton]. But, honestly, it could be maybe attacked. Who knows.”
Two days later, he talked about how widespread hacking was and, specifically, said Russia is apparently “excellent” at it.
“The hacking is all over the place. I hear China is brutal. They say Russia is excellent,” he said at a July 29 town hall event in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“And you have guys sitting in their home that are very good. You have people, men and women, sitting in their homes that are better than the people that are the inventors.”
Trump also talked in July about how he prefers the idea of using couriers to transport top-secret information, especially when it pertains to military intelligence.
“I guarantee you General George Patton, who was rough as hell, he wouldn't be doing emails when he's going to be ready to attack. If he were around, he'd say, ‘I don't like that system at all,’” Trump said.
Trump apparently intends to take the idea to heart, saying Saturday that he will place an emphasis on such self-described “old school” tactics when it comes to keeping information protected during the Trump administration.
“If you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way because I'll tell you what, no computer is safe,” Trump said in Palm Beach.
“I don't care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who's ten years old. He can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.” | Abc News;More Meghan | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-email-person-things-hacking/story?id=44511376 | CENTER |
4,446,289 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Slain Pennsylvania trooper's funeral arrangements announced | A Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was slain on duty will be laid to rest this week. | A Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was slain on duty will be laid to rest this week.
Twenty-three-year-old Trooper Landon Weaver was shot and killed while responding to a domestic complaint Friday night in Huntingdon County, in central Pennsylvania. State police shot and killed the suspect in Weaver's death after an overnight manhunt.
Weaver graduated from the police academy last summer and was assigned to the Huntingdon barracks. He was married in June.
The John K. Bolger Funeral Home says there will be a visitation Wednesday at the Jaffa Shrine Center in Altoona. Weaver's funeral will be Thursday at the Jaffa Shrine Center. He'll be buried at Fairview Cemetery in Martinsburg.
Weaver was the 97th member of the Pennsylvania State Police to be killed in the line of duty. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/02/slain-pennsylvania-trooper-funeral-arrangements-announced.html | RIGHT |
52,877,354 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Turkish Police Continue Hunt For Gunman In Deadly Nightclub Attack | Turkey has detained eight people in connection with Sunday's shootings, but police continue to search for the gunman, who remains at large. ISIS claims responsibility for the attack that left 39 dead. | Turkish Police Continue Hunt For Gunman In Deadly Nightclub Attack
Turkey has announced eight detentions in connection with Sunday's shootings at an Istanbul nightclub. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that left 39 dead and 69 wounded. An intensive police search is under way for the gunman, who was not among those picked up Monday. | Peter Kenyon | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507922151/turkish-police-continue-hunt-for-gunman-in-deadly-nightclub-attack?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=world | LEFT |
52,931,704 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Methane's On The Rise, But Regulations To Stop Gas Leaks Still Debated | Scientists concede that oil and gas production is only partly to blame for the 3 percent surge in the greenhouse gas in the last decade. Obama tightened rules on the industry. Will Trump repeal them? | Methane's On The Rise, But Regulations To Stop Gas Leaks Still Debated
Enlarge this image toggle caption David Gilkey/NPR David Gilkey/NPR
There's more methane gas in the atmosphere than there used to be, by every scientific measure. The Obama administration has been trying to stem the increase of this powerful greenhouse gas, but the incoming Trump administration appears bent on keeping the government's hands off methane.
The gas comes from agriculture, especially flooded agricultural lands like rice fields, as well as from the digestive tracts of livestock. But it's also the main component of natural gas; some methane escapes from leaky oil and gas operations.
Whatever the source, scientists have found that, after many years of very little change, concentrations of methane in the atmosphere have increased by 3 percent over the past eight years.
"Methane concentrations in the atmosphere are surging faster than any time in the last 20 years," environmental scientist Rob Jackson, of Stanford University, told NPR.
Jackson and his colleagues have long tracked various sources of methane, as it emanates from oil and gas wells, city sewers and manure pits; he recently published scientific papers on global as well as local concentrations of the gas.
"We understand some of the reason for (the increase)," he said, "but not all of the reasons."
Other climate researchers have confirmed Jackson's findings, and point out that methane warms the atmosphere at about 30 times the rate carbon dioxide does. Jackson said the recent increase convinces him that methane deserves as much, if not more, immediate attention as carbon dioxide, the main contributor to greenhouse gas.
Scientists point to agriculture as the likeliest source of the new methane, especially in Asia and Africa. Feeding more people has meant more rice fields, more livestock and more manure — all sources of methane. There also is some evidence that small changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere may be allowing methane to stay aloft longer than usual, giving it more time to warm the air.
But Jackson noted that there are other sources. "We also see evidence for some increase from the fossil fuel sector," he said, meaning drilling, processing and the transporting of natural gas. Recent research shows that leaks from the natural gas supply chain are more widespread than previously thought.
The U.S. government is taking steps to stem that source of methane. The Environmental Protection Agency has written regulations to make companies plug methane leaks at new or modified oil and gas operations, and at the operations on some federal land.
But the oil and gas industry believes the government is overreaching.
That debate is likely to flare up when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has said that environmental regulations drive up the cost of doing business and kill jobs; his choice to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, the attorney general of Oklahoma, has made similar claims that the agency has a history of overly regulating oil and gas companies.
Jack Gerard, who leads the American Petroleum Institute, told reporters in November that he wants the incoming Trump administration to dump the regulations.
"Methane (regulation) is a top priority, and we'll be pursuing that aggressively," Gerard said. Some oil and gas companies have already sued to stop the regulations, which aren't yet in effect.
"I think everybody understands that there needs to be methane regulation, and it's really a question of degree," Steve Leifer, an environmental lawyer at Baker Botts, a legal firm that represents oil and gas companies, told NPR. "I know the industry is very concerned. They are taking it very, very seriously."
Oil and gas representatives argue that the recent research shows that the biggest source of methane is agriculture, along with natural sources like wetlands.
That may be true, but Mark Brownstein, a lawyer with the Environmental Defense Fund, said he believes that's a red herring.
"I think the debate over what's caused the near-term rise has served to obscure the fact that emissions are already too high," Brownstein told NPR. You have to start somewhere, he said, and capturing leaked methane from oil and gas operations is easier than changing agriculture practices.
In fact, stopping methane leaks should make economic sense for the oil and gas sector, he said: Methane is a commodity, and leaked methane is money lost. Brownstein's organization, along with university researchers and natural gas companies, has studied how much gas is leaking.
"Let's keep in mind what's at stake here," he said. "We're wasting enough natural gas every year to serve the needs of 7 million homes."
So far, oil and gas interests haven't been convinced. Gerard points out that the industry is voluntarily reducing leaks and doesn't need federal enforcement.
Leifer, the attorney representing oil interests, told NPR the debate will likely end up in court, along with lots of other pending environmental regulations.
"There is no major rule that isn't going to go to court," he said. "You just can't find one." That shouldn't be surprising, he said. Every change of administration in Washington means more business for lawyers. | Christopher Joyce | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507100296/methanes-on-the-rise-but-regulations-to-stop-gas-leaks-still-debated?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | LEFT |
4,462,333 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Pope to bishops: Maintain 'zero tolerance' for child abuse | Pope Francis has exhorted Catholic bishops worldwide to do what's needed to ensure children aren't sexually abused by clergy. | Pope Francis has exhorted Catholic bishops worldwide to do what's needed to ensure children aren't sexually abused by clergy.
The Vatican on Monday released the text of a Dec. 28 letter Francis sent to bishops about injustices to children such as slave labor, malnutrition and sexual exploitation, including abuse by priests.
In the letter, Francis decries the "sin of what happened, the sin of failing to help, the sin of covering up and denial, the sin of the abuse of power."
Francis tells bishops to "adhere, clearly and faithfully, to 'zero tolerance'" for sex abuse of minors.
The pontiff himself has been criticized by some for not punishing bishops who covered up abuse by reassigning molesters to different parishes.
Francis asks bishops for "complete commitment" so such "atrocities" won't re-occur. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/pope-to-bishops-maintain-zero-tolerance-for-child-abuse.html | RIGHT |
52,959,615 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | ISIS Claims Responsibility In Turkish Nightclub Attack; U.S. Man Among The Wounded | In a statement, the Islamic State said it was responsible for the shooting attack that killed at least 39 people on Sunday. The State Department confirms a Delaware businessman is among the wounded. | ISIS Claims Responsibility In Turkish Nightclub Attack; U.S. Man Among The Wounded
Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP
The Islamic State issued a statement on Monday saying it was responsible for the attack on a New Year's Eve celebration at a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, in which at least 39 people were killed.
At least 25 of those killed were foreign nationals. Funerals for some of the victims began on Sunday.
Reuters received a copy of the statement by ISIS:
"In continuation of the blessed operations that Islamic State is conducting against the protector of the cross, Turkey, a heroic soldier of the caliphate struck one of the most famous nightclubs where the Christians celebrate their apostate holiday."
NPR's Peter Kenyon reported on Sunday that Turkish officials identified several possible culprits for the shooting, including the Islamic State, Kurdish militants or far-left groups.
Nearly 70 people were wounded, among them a 35-year-old businessman from Delaware, according to the State Department.
The search for the attacker, who has not yet been identified, is still underway, says Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Police believe he carried out the attack alone.
At Reina, one of Istanbul's most popular nightclubs, it's believed some 500 to 600 revelers were celebrating the start of the new year. Reuters reports that the attacker shot at a police officer and at civilians before entering the nightclub. Many inside were said to have jumped into the neighboring Bosphorus waterway in an attempt to save themselves from the gunfire. | Doreen Mccallister | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/02/507848348/isis-claims-responsibility-in-turkish-nightclub-attack-u-s-man-among-the-wounded?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | LEFT |
55,043,154 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Los Angeles Times | California Inc.: Hollywood's awards season goes into high gear | null | Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business Section.
I'm Business columnist David Lazarus, and here's a rundown of upcoming stories this week and the highlights of last week.
LOOKING AHEAD
New boss: On Tuesday, a new chief executive will take over the Central City Assn., an influential downtown Los Angeles business advocacy group. The incoming CEO is Jessica Lall, formerly executive director of a business improvement district in the South Park neighborhood, an area surrounding Staples Center that is awash in construction. Lall, 32, previously served under former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as senior policy director in the Department of Economic and Business Policy.
Picking winners: Hollywood’s awards season shifts into a higher gear this week. Final Golden Globes voting closes Wednesday, while Academy Award nomination voting opens Thursday. The National Society of Film Critics award winners will be announced Saturday. And the 74th annual Golden Globes will be handed out Sunday and televised by NBC. In the competition among studios, Lionsgate is off to the best start — it has 13 Golden Globe nominations.
Building plans: On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court will hear arguments over Newport Banning Ranch, the controversial proposal to develop one of the largest open private parcels of land on the Southern California coast. The Banning Ranch Conservancy sued Newport Beach after the city approved a 1,375-home and hotel project on a site overlooking Pacific Coast Highway. The plan was later scaled back, then blocked by the California Coastal Commission.
New flight: On Thursday, Alaska Airlines will begin offering the only daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Havana. Alaska was among several major carriers that applied for limited slots to fly into Cuba, following an agreement by the U.S. and Cuba to relax travel restrictions that had been in place more than 50 years. Alaska plans to fly a Boeing 737-900ER, a jet that can carry as many as 180 passengers, departing each day at 8:50 a.m. with a return flight at 5:55 p.m.
Tech trade show: CES, the massive consumer technology show, will run Thursday through Sunday in Las Vegas. New this year will be sessions on printed electronics and data privacy, joining a lineup of events addressing wireless technologies, robotics, automobiles, smart home gadgets and handheld electronics. L.A.-based Faraday Future, the financially troubled electric car company, has said it will introduce its production car at CES.
THE AGENDA
In Monday’s Business section, auto writer Charles Fleming will shine a headlight on Highway 1’s favorite rides of 2016 — a great year for vehicles not produced by Volkswagen (emissions cheating scandal, expensive settlements, suffering sales). Spoiler alert: There’s a motorcycle on the list as well as cars powered by electricity and hydrogen fuel cell.
STORY LINES
Here are some of the other stories that ran in the Times Business section in recent days that we’re continuing to follow:
Dow 20K: The Dow Jones industrial average flirted with the 20,000 level for days, coming within 25 points of the milestone. Although the blue chip index ended 2016 with a losing day, down 0.3% Friday, the average was up 13.4% from a year earlier. Beyond the Dow, U.S. stocks posted strong gains for the year.
Channel blockers: This time the contract talk impasse was between cable giant Charter Communications and NBCUniversal, which threatened to bring a blackout of NBC channels for Charter customers. But such distribution battles, and channel outages, have become more common as pay-TV providers, including AT&T, Charter and Dish Network, get more aggressive on holding down programming costs.
Alexa’s listening skills: The seizure of an Amazon Echo as part of an Arkansas murder investigation raised questions about privacy in a “smart home” era. Echo is activated by a word, usually “Alexa” or “Amazon,” but the device’s microphones are always listening, hence the interest of Bentonville, Ark., police.
Nasty Gal sale: The Los Angeles retailer of edgy women’s clothing and accessories received a $20-million offer for its intellectual property from British online retailer Boohoo.com. Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, said it is seeking Bankruptcy Court permission to hold an auction of its assets in early February.
IPO momentum: Fewer companies went public in 2016, with IPOs hitting a 7-year low because of uncertainty over the economy and the election. What’s more, the year's deals raised a total of $18.8 billion — the least since 2003. But experts expect a rebound in 2017, with a packed pipeline of companies itching to sell stock to the public, including Snap and Spotify.
WHAT WE’RE READING
And some recent stories from other publications that caught our eye:
Hollywood scandals: Variety runs down the 10 biggest Hollywood scandals and controversies of the year. These are the most “thought-piece-provoking” show-biz moments of the last 12 months. | David Lazarus | www.latimes.com | http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-newsletter-california-inc-20160102-story.html | LEFT |
116,019,240 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Man Detained in Germany on Suspicion of Financing Terror | Man Detained in Germany on Suspicion of Financing Terror | Authorities say a man has been detained in western Germany on suspicion of financing terrorism.
Police and prosecutors in Saarland state, on the French border, wouldn't give details before a news conference planned later Monday.
They said that the 38-year-old man from Saarbruecken was detained on Saturday, news agency dpa reported. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/man-detained-germany-suspicion-financing-terror-44509340 | CENTER |
115,867,018 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | 4 Dead from Suspected Pesticide Poisoning at Texas Home | 4 Dead from Suspected Pesticide Poisoning at Texas Home | Four people, all believed to be minors, are dead from suspected pesticide poisoning at a home in Amarillo, Texas, Monday, officials said.
The fire department said the case appears to be an "accidental poisoning with no criminal intent."
The victims were found after the fire department responded to a medical call around 5 a.m. today, the fire department said. Besides the four fatalities, several people were hospitalized, the fire department said.
Family members told the fire department the pesticide contained the chemical aluminum phosphide, officials said.
"At some point, a family member tried washing the chemical from underneath the house with water," the fire department said. "When this chemical comes in contact with water, it creates Phosphine gas, which is highly poisonous and can cause pulmonary edema and respiratory failure."
The fire department said it's unclear how long the family was exposed. | Abc News;More Emily | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-suspected-pesticide-poisoning-texas-home-officials/story?id=44516397 | CENTER |
4,425,350 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | The Latest: Islamic State claims Istanbul nightclub attack | The Latest on the Istanbul nightclub attack (all times local): 11:45 a.m. | The Latest on the Istanbul nightclub attack (all times local):
11:45 a.m.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Istanbul shooting that killed 39 people and wounded scores of others.
The IS-linked Aamaq News Agency said the New Year's Eve attack was carried by a "heroic soldier of the caliphate who attacked the most famous nightclub where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast."
It said the man opened fire from an automatic rifle in "revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders" of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The group described Turkey as "the servant of the cross."
___
10:10 a.m.
Turkish media reports say that authorities believe that the Islamic State group is behind the attack on a popular Istanbul nightclub during New Year's celebrations.
Hurriyet and Karar newspaper reports Monday cited unnamed security officials saying that authorities have determined that the gunman who killed 39 people comes from a Central Asian nation and is believed to be either from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.
Police had also established similarities with the high-casualty attack at Ataturk Airport in June and was investigating whether the same IS cell carried out both attacks.
The gunman, who is still at large, killed a policeman and another man outside the Reina club in the early hours of 2017 before firing at people partying inside.
Nearly two-thirds of the dead were foreigners, many from the Middle East. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/latest-islamic-state-claims-istanbul-nightclub-attack.html | RIGHT |
115,954,596 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Trump Said He Felt He Was Going to Lose the Election, Despite Denying It | Trump Said He Felt He Was Going to Lose the Election, Despite Denying It | Donald Trump is pushing back against "media outlets" and "pundits" that he said he was going to lose the election, but one person may disagree with that assertion -- Donald Trump.
On Monday, Trump tweeted:
Various media outlets and pundits say that I thought I was going to lose the election. Wrong, it all came together in the last week and..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017
I thought and felt I would win big, easily over the fabled 270 (306). When they cancelled fireworks, they knew, and so did I. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017
But in Wisconsin last month, during a leg of his "Thank You" tour, he appeared to give the opposite impression, recounting a lengthy discussion he had with his wife on election night.
"But anyway- so I got the bad news from my daughter," he told the crowd in West Allis. "And I said, that's too bad. So I go and see my wife. I said baby, I tell you what. We're not going to win tonight because the polls have come out...It's just looking bad, but you know what, I'm okay with it because of the fact that I couldn't have worked any harder."
Trump told supporters that remember saying "If I lose, I lose."
"But so I felt, you know, you don't feel good if you didn't put out and you lose, but if you put out every single ounce of energy in your blood, you feel like okay. There's nothing more you can do," he recounted. "So I told her, and she looked at me and she has seen these rallies and she said you're not going to lose. I say- No I’m telling you the polls are looking very bad."
"She said you're not going to lose," he told the crowd. "Okay. So now the poll just closed and they start announcing numbers. And I say, 'Oh this is going to be embarrassing.' And I’m trying to figure out what I'm going to do."
Later in the speech Trump said that he took reports of Clinton canceling her planned Election night fireworks display over the Hudson River as a sign things were going his way.
"They knew bad things were happening and I got a good sign when four days before the end, I called up Mike, they just cancelled the fireworks was the front page story. They cancelled," he said. "Now, usually you cancel fireworks because you don't want fireworks if you're going to lose. Did anybody ever use fireworks if they’re going to lose."
Preliminary exit polling indicated that Trump was behind in key states, but the numbers swung as the evening went on. Trump ultimately prevailed in traditionally blue Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, denying Hillary Clinton a win and sealing an Electoral College victory.
Trump lost the popular vote, however, by nearly 3 million ballots. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-felt-lose-election-denying/story?id=44517236 | CENTER |
53,001,849 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Austin Tice, Jounalist Held In Syria, Is Alive, White House Tells His Parents | Debra and Marc Tice, parents of journalist Austin Tice who was taken captive in Syria in 2012, recently heard from the Obama administration that officials have "high confidence" their son is alive. | Austin Tice, Jounalist Held In Syria, Is Alive, White House Tells His Parents
Debra and Marc Tice, parents of journalist Austin Tice who was taken captive in Syria in 2012, recently heard from the Obama administration that officials have "high confidence" their son is alive.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Freelance journalist Austin Tice was taken captive in Syria in August of 2012. Aside from a video released five weeks after his capture, his parents have not seen or heard from him since. However, they've been given new information recently that's giving them new reasons to hope for his safe return in 2017. Austin's parents Debra and Marc Tice recently met with President Obama's Envoy for Hostage Affairs, a man named James O'Brien. I asked Marc and Debra to tell us what they could about their conversation with him.
MARC TICE: What he shared with us was what senator - our senator, John Cornyn, shared which is that it's the assessment of the United States government that Austin, our son, is alive, that he's still being held captive in Syria. And for that reason, we continue to ask our government and others to do everything they can to bring him home.
MARTIN: Senator John Cornyn, we should say, who's also been instrumental in working on this. So you know that he's alive.
DEBRA TICE: That means a lot, Rachel, just exactly the way that you just said it.
M. TICE: It's, you know - it's - we've never had any doubt. We have been confident from the time he first went missing, but it's fantastically uplifting to hear that same word from people in our government that can make that assessment and share that with us.
MARTIN: I understand that all these conversations are sensitive, but do you know any more about who is holding Austin? I mean, we've seen reports attributed to Reporters Without Borders that say Austin is not being held by ISIS, and there is some hint that his captors may be allied with the Syrian government. What can you tell us?
D. TICE: We can't tell you much, Rachel. You know, the most important thing that the bottom of that question, the question that you're asking behind that is, you know, what can be done on their end to resolve this situation and bring Austin safely home? But what we need is for those that are holding Austin to reach out and to let us know what needs to be done to bring him safely home.
MARTIN: Because you don't really know what his captors are demanding because you haven't been able to engage at that level of communication.
D. TICE: Exactly.
M. TICE: No, it's exactly right. And, you know, in the same way that we have been asking our government to do everything it can, we continue to reach out in whatever way we can, including this broadcast, to the Syrian government to ask them to do everything they can to locate Austin, do everything possible and hopefully work with our government to bring him home.
MARTIN: I understand you also met with President Obama this past summer. What was his message to you?
D. TICE: He assured us that it is a priority for him, that he is committed to doing this, that should it become necessary because we met with him in July that he would brief the incoming administration and make sure that Austin's return remained a high priority.
MARTIN: How have you two managed your own expectations, especially in light of this most recent news, this belief that Austin is alive? How do you internalize that...
D. TICE: Well...
MARTIN: ...And keep your expectations in check, I guess?
D. TICE: No, not at all. We don't try to contain our expectations or mitigate our hope or anything like that. We keep the light on, and we keep the sheets clean. You know, we keep the refrigerator stocked, so that when he walks in the door, we will be so ready to just hug him and get on with the next thing.
M. TICE: What about you, Marc? You know Austin's an extraordinary individual, even as I say that as his father, and so I have a lot of confidence in his strength of mind, his strength of spirit and heart and just looking forward to that big hug when he gets home.
MARTIN: Debra and Marc Tice are the parents of journalist Austin Tice. And we should also note a large banner calling for Austin's safe return has been mounted in front of the Newseum here in Washington, D.C. The banner will stay there until Austin Tice is returned safely to his family. Debra and Marc, thank you so much for talking with us.
M. TICE: Thank you, Rachel.
D. TICE: Thank you, Rachel. And we wish you all the best in the new year.
MARTIN: With all of us, know that we are wishing for Austin's safe return.
M. TICE: Thank you.
D. TICE: Thank you.
Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | Rachel Martin | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854074/journalist-austin-tice-held-in-syria-is-alive-obama-administration-tells-his-par?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | LEFT |
115,909,089 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Finland to Pay Unemployed Basic Income of $587 Per Month | Finland to Pay Unemployed Basic Income of $587 Per Month | Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a social experiment hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.
Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1.
Those 2,000 unemployed chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive.
The unemployment rate of Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, stood at 8.1 percent in November with some 213,000 people without a job — unchanged from the previous year. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/finland-pay-unemployed-basic-income-587-month-44512908 | CENTER |
4,481,798 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Daughter of woman in South Korea scandal arrested in Denmark | South Korean prosecutors said Monday that the daughter of the confidante of impeached President Park Geun-hye has been arrested in Denmark, and that authorities were working to get her returned home in connection with a huge corruption scandal. | South Korean prosecutors said Monday that the daughter of the confidante of impeached President Park Geun-hye has been arrested in Denmark, and that authorities were working to get her returned home in connection with a huge corruption scandal.
Park was impeached last month by lawmakers amid public fury over prosecutors' allegations that she conspired to allow her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to extort companies and control the government.
Denmark police arrested Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, over the weekend on charges of staying there illegally.
South Korea had asked Interpol to search for Chung because she didn't return home to answer questions about the scandal.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that Chung, a former member of the national equestrian team, allegedly took advantage of her mother's relationship with Park to get unwarranted favors from Seoul's Ewha Womans University. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/daughter-woman-in-south-korea-scandal-arrested-in-denmark.html | RIGHT |
115,947,970 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Trailblazing Hasidic Woman Judge: 'It's the American Dream' | Trailblazing Hasidic Woman Judge: 'It's the American Dream' | In some ways, Rachel Freier has a background that might be expected in a new civil court judge. She is a real estate lawyer who volunteers in family court and in her community, where she even serves as a paramedic.
But Freier starts work Tuesday as something quite unexpected. She's believed to be the first woman from Judaism's ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community to be elected as a judge in the United States.
A proud product of a world with strict customs concerning gender roles and modesty, the new Brooklyn civil court judge started college as a married, 30-year-old mother of three children and had three more before graduating. A pathbreaker who embraces tradition, she has sometimes had to explain herself to both outsiders and fellow believers.
"My commitment to the public and my commitment to my religion and my community — the two can go hand in hand," she says.
At a swearing-in ceremony last month, she both vowed to uphold the Constitution and pledged to illuminate the Hasidic world for her new colleagues.
"This is a dream," she told the gathering. "It's the American dream."
There's no official tally of American judges' religions, but experts aren't aware of any Hasidic woman before Freier winning a judicial post. It is extremely rare even in Israel for Hasidic or other ultra-Orthodox women to hold any elected position.
Freier, a political newcomer whose uncle is a former judge, won a three-way Democratic primary and the general election in a swath of Brooklyn that includes the heavily Hasidic Borough Park neighborhood.
Her election is "a step for the ultra-Orthodox community at large," showing it's open to women making progress on the political ladder, said Yossi Gestetner, a longtime Hasidic political activist and public relations consultant who co-managed Freier's campaign.
Hasids and other ultra-Orthodox groups together make up only 6 percent of America's estimated 5.3 million adult Jews, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center study.
Dating to 18th-century Eastern Europe, Hasidism combines stringent adherence to Jewish law and a joyful belief in mysticism. Followers often speak Yiddish, wear traditional dress including beards and sidelocks for men and wigs for married women, and separate men and women in contexts ranging from buses to classrooms.
"The very idea that an ultra-Orthodox woman could be a judge" is notable, said Samuel Heilman, a City University of New York sociology professor who studies Orthodox Judaism. Under the strictest interpretations of Jewish law, women can't be judges or largely even witnesses in the rabbinical courts that weigh various disputes in Orthodox communities. (Freier notes that her new post is separate from those tribunals.)
Freier, 51, nicknamed Ruchie, started working as a legal secretary after high school. College wasn't customary for Hasidic women, though it has since become more common.
But when her husband, David, got a college degree, she aspired to one of her own. After graduating from a women-only, Orthodox Jewish-friendly program at private Touro College, she went on to Brooklyn Law School, finishing in 2005.
Some other Hasidic Jews questioned what she was doing. But they came to realize "I was completely devoted to our religion and our tradition, and this was something I wanted to do regardless," she says.
"I didn't want to ever be considered someone who was turning away from my community," but rather to work within its structure, she said.
That has sometimes required finding creative ways to resolve issues.
An appeal for help from boys who had chafed in Orthodox Jewish schools, for example, led Freier to found a program that helps young men get general-equivalency diplomas.
Then Freier was enlisted to represent Orthodox Jewish women who wanted to join an all-male volunteer ambulance corps, aiming to aid fellow women during childbirth or gynecological emergencies.
After ambulance corps leaders rebuffed the idea, which a well-known Orthodox Jewish blog called a "new radical feminist agenda," Freier helped the women launch their own volunteer service and joined it herself. She was still taking her turn on call this past week.
If there's a message she hopes her election sends, it's "don't give up."
"And don't let go of your standards." | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/trailblazing-hasidic-woman-judge-american-dream-44512253 | CENTER |
53,002,720 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | Trump Continues To Question Evidence That Russia Meddled In U.S. Election | Donald Trump has said he is not convinced that Russia was behind the hacking. This week, he'll meet with representatives of the intelligence community to discuss their findings about Russian hacking. | Trump Continues To Question Evidence That Russia Meddled In U.S. Election
Donald Trump has said he is not convinced that Russia was behind the hacking. This week, he'll meet with representatives of the intelligence community to discuss their findings about Russian hacking.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to sit down with top intelligence officials this week to talk about their findings that Russia interfered in the U.S. election. It might be kind of an awkward conversation considering Donald Trump is still casting doubt on the assessment that Russia hacked into U.S. computers in order to influence the outcome of the vote. Trump keeps praising Vladimir Putin meanwhile and says it's time for everyone to just, quote, "move on." NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now to talk about this and more of what's in store as the new year gets underway in Washington. Happy new year, Scott.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Happy new year to you, Rachel.
MARTIN: So the U.S. intelligence community continues to build its case that Russia is responsible for cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee among other entities. Donald Trump is not convinced, is he?
HORSLEY: That's right. You know, late last week, we got the most detailed report to date on what the U.S. intelligence community is calling GRIZZLY STEPPE. That is malicious cyber activity carried out by Russian intelligence targeting the DNC and other government and private computer networks. You know, back in October, the director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security had fingered Russia as being behind those cyberattacks.
Now we have the FBI joining in that conclusion and detailing a range of cyber activity carried out by Russian operatives as far back as the summer of 2015 and as recently as this November, days after the U.S. election. But Donald Trump remains skeptical. He talked to reporters about this over the weekend while attending a New Year's Eve party at his Florida resort.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: I know a lot about hacking, and hacking is a very hard thing to prove, so it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don't know. And so they cannot be sure of this situation.
HORSLEY: Trump argues that U.S. intelligence agencies have been mistaken in the past. He points to the claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq for example. But this is a remarkable thing, Rachel, to have the president-elect questioning the consensus finding of the entire U.S. intelligence community. Trump and his team have described this focus on Russian meddling as an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of his election.
MARTIN: And Trump went out of his way to praise Vladimir Putin, tweeting that he always knew Putin was, quote, "very smart." How is that going over with Republicans?
HORSLEY: This is likely to be a source of friction. Trump has spoken frequently about wanting to work more closely with Vladimir Putin, but Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement last week saying, quote, "Russia does not share America's interests." In fact, it has consistently sought to undermine them. GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell sounded a similar note, saying the Russians are not our friends. Arizona Senator John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, plans to hold hearings later this week on Russian hacking.
To be sure, congressional Republicans have often been critical of the Obama administration for being too soft against Russia. But after the White House ordered new sanctions last week and expelled dozens of suspected Russian agents, you have top GOP lawmakers who sound more closely aligned with the Obama administration than they do with the president-elect of their own party.
MARTIN: OK. So we're going to keep following that no doubt. Let's switch gears a little bit now. President Obama returns to Washington today from Hawaii where he was on vacation with his family. He's going to be up on Capitol Hill this week. What's he up to?
HORSLEY: The president will be meeting with House and Senate Democrats on Wednesday. And sources say they'll be mapping out their defense as Republicans work to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The GOP can repeal some but not all of Obamacare with a simple majority. And Republican lawmakers plan to start that process right away. It's still not clear, of course, what that - when that repeal would take effect or what Republicans plan to replace Obamacare with. So Democrats will be looking to highlight the popular provisions of the law and its success in extending insurance coverage to some 20 million Americans while driving the uninsured rate to an all-time low.
In the run-up to the new year, we actually saw a fairly robust sign of activity on the government-run insurance exchanges as a lot of people signed up for coverage in 2017, even though the long-term future of Obamacare is very much in doubt.
MARTIN: So what can we expect from the president? He just has under three weeks left in his tenure left in the White House. What do you know about how he's going to use that time?
HORSLEY: Well, I don't think he's going to coast into retirement. He often uses the phrase run through the tape, so expect him to be working right up to his last day in office doing what he can to secure his legacy, even if some of those actions could be reversed by the incoming president. In just the last month, we've seen the Obama administration set new limits on offshore oil drilling, declare new national monuments, OK the transfer of more inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison and grant clemency to more nonviolent drug offenders.
Now, in some cases, those measures don't go as far as the president would have liked. Guantanamo's going to still be open most likely when he leaves office. Clemency is no substitute for broader criminal justice reform, but he'll do what he can with the powers and the time he has left.
MARTIN: NPR's Scott Horsley. Thanks as always, Scott.
HORSLEY: My pleasure, Rachel.
Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | Scott Horsley | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854102/trump-continues-to-question-evidence-that-russia-meddled-in-u-s-election?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | LEFT |
115,864,284 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Trump Spokesman: President-Elect Wants More Info on Russia | Trump Spokesman: President-Elect Wants More Info on Russia | Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer is defending cryptic comments by President-elect Donald Trump that he knows "things that other people don't know" when it comes to allegations of Russian hacking.
Spicer tells Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" that Trump is getting national security briefings "on a daily basis" and "there doesn't seem to be conclusive evidence" Russians were behind the hacking of Democratic emails during the election.
Spicer also dismissed on Monday a report released by the FBI and Homeland Security Department supporting the accusations against Russia, calling it a "how-to" manual on basic cybersecurity for Democrats.
In an interview on NBC's "Today Show," Spicer said President Barack Obama only punished Russia after Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the election and that the recent sanctions were politically motivated. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-spokesman-president-elect-info-russia-44510305 | CENTER |
115,978,617 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Kitty Litter Helps Wyoming Bentonite Past Drilling Slump | Kitty Litter Helps Wyoming Bentonite Past Drilling Slump | The market for a peculiar type of clay is looking up thanks to improved prospects for oil and gas drilling and to cat owners who use the stuff to soak up their pets' business.
Over 90 percent of all bentonite mined in the U.S. and almost half worldwide comes from beds of ancient volcanic ash in Wyoming. Some call bentonite the mineral of 1,000 uses: It clarifies wine and other alcoholic beverages, forms an impervious liner to keep landfills from leaking, removes ink during paper recycling, and goes into a slew of homeopathic remedies.
But two of the biggest uses are in kitty litter and drilling mud, the goop pumped down oil and gas wells during drilling to keep the bit cool and carry cuttings to the surface.
As the oil and gas industry's fortunes rise and fall, so can bentonite's. Over the past two years, bentonite mining companies that do a lot of business with the oilfield services industry suffered while the oil and gas industry experienced its worst slump in 20 years or more.
Now, oil and gas prices have recovered somewhat, and petroleum companies look to drill more soon. Bentonite sales likewise show new signs of life, said Rick Magstadt, vice president of manufacturing for bentonite miner Wyo-Ben Inc.
"I'm not going to hex it by saying that I think it's going to be a lot better, but we expect a better year than we did last year," Magstadt said.
Bentonite assists drilling because of a property called thixotropy, which causes drilling mud to liquefy in the friction of drilling and solidify when the motion stops.
Cat litter has helped the industry ride out the oil and gas downturn, said Wyoming Mining Association Executive Director Travis Deti.
"The pet litter industry has been very steady," Deti said. "That's a remarkable thing that I don't think people realize. We're kind of like the pet litter capital of the world."
Drilling mud accounts for the largest portion of Wyo-Ben's business, while kitty litter and environmental lining round out the company's top three markets, Magstadt said.
Other bentonite mining and processing companies focus almost exclusively on kitty litter, and business has been steady, said Tom Thorson, president of Black Hills Bentonite, which gets 80 to 90 percent of its business from Clorox and other companies that make kitty litter.
Bentonite kitty litter isn't terribly kind to the environment because it comes from surface mines and flushing the stuff, which can absorb up to 10 times its weight in water and swell up to 16 times its original size, isn't a good idea. Bentonite-based kitty litter — millions of tons a year — takes up space in landfills and doesn't decompose.
But alternatives, such as corn-based litter, haven't really caught on despite growing demand for environmentally friendly pet products, said Shannon Brown, an analyst with the market research firm Packaged Facts.
Cat owners often find that biodegradable kitty litters, which can be quite a bit more expensive, doesn't work as well as bentonite-based litters, she said.
"They either don't like them or their cats don't like them. And so, in many cases, people will try them and then just go back to their standard, clay litter," Brown said.
Nationwide, sales of kitty litter approached $2.9 billion last year. Three-quarters of cat owners buy kitty litter and three-quarters of those buy clay clumping kitty litter, according to Packaged Facts.
Recently the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved Wyo-Ben's plans to expand a bentonite pit near Thermopolis in north-central Wyoming. It was a rare bit of good news for Wyoming's mining industry, hit hard by a downturn in coal and a recent BLM coal-leasing moratorium.
Wyoming, the top coal-mining state, produces about as much coal in four days as the state's nine bentonite mines do all year. The 4.3 million tons of bentonite mined nationwide last year was down 10 percent from the year before, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Bentonite mining and processing continues to employ almost 700 people in Wyoming, thanks in no small part to cat owners.
"It doesn't sound that sexy, but it's good for business," Magstadt said.
———
Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kitty-litter-helps-wyoming-bentonite-past-drilling-slump-44507922 | CENTER |
115,855,769 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Year-Long Digital Detox Left Woman Feeling 'Grateful of Every Moment' | Year-Long Digital Detox Left Woman Feeling 'Grateful of Every Moment' | A Washington D.C. woman has revealed that a year-long digital detox from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat has left her feeling "grateful of every moment."
Darla Bunting had hundreds of Facebook and Snapchat friends, over 1,300 Instagram followers and more than 4,000 Twitter followers. But on January 1 last year she announced in a blog post that she was giving the sharing platforms up for the next 365 days.
The education advocate told ABC News last year that she initially deleted the social media apps for a month on the advise of her pastor, but found the mini-digital detox wasn't enough.
Now after an entire year, Bunting, 31, told ABC News: "I had different epiphanies over the course of this year. I feel so at peace."
"I took away instantly that so many of us curate our lives for social media and so I removed all of that, removed the feeling of having to 'snap' every moment or Instagram every moment or every experience that’s going on in my life," she said.
"When I began to cut out different things, I learned to have an attitude of gratitude," Bunting added. "I became really grateful of every moment."
Bunting joked that due to her lack of social media presence during the presidential election campaign she "didn’t lose any Facebook friends."
"But what I did gain was learning how to quiet my own thoughts and my own opinions and listen to other people whose opinions are different than mine," she added.
Still, time away from social media did have its drawbacks, including missing photographed moments posted by family members who don't live nearby.
"I did miss seeing my goddaughter...because I’m not physically there with her," Bunting explained, "and photos of friends that I don't get to see everyday."
Bunting says she intends to return to posting, but has advice for those who want to try a social media detox: "Realize that social media isn’t going anywhere, so you're not going to miss anything once you take a break from it and come back," she said. "You’ll still be able to find news in other places. You’ll go to websites. You’ll subscribe to different people’s newsletters."
Bunting also had some tips for those wishing to follow her lead and wean themselves off social media: "Social media has become such a natural part of our life. You’ll have urges to check," she said. "So I blocked the websites on my computer and deleted the apps off of my phone. So there was not a way for me to check. That made it incredibly easier for me." | Abc News;More Joi-Marie | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/year-long-digital-detox-left-dc-woman-feeling/story?id=44498866 | CENTER |
116,007,506 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Obama to Give His Farewell Speech in Chicago | Obama to Give His Farewell Speech in Chicago | President Obama is preparing to give his farewell speech from his home city of Chicago.
"I'll go home to Chicago to say my grateful farewell to you, even if you can't be there in person," he said in an email announcing the Tuesday, January 10 speech.
He said his farewell speech, like a peaceful transfer of power, follows the precedent set by George Washington in 1796.
"I'm just beginning to write my remarks. But I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here," he wrote.
The email follows a series of tweets Sunday, in which he reflected on the past eight years.
It’s been the privilege of my life to serve as your President. I look forward to standing with you as a citizen. Happy New Year everybody. — President Obama (@POTUS) January 1, 2017
He said in his email that while there has been a "fair share of challenges" since 2009 we've "come through them stronger."
"That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding -- our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better," he said. "So I hope you'll join me one last time. Because, for me, it's always been about you." | Abc News;More Serena | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-give-farewell-speech-chicago/story?id=44506776 | CENTER |
115,864,952 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Suicide Car Bomber Outside Mogadishu Airport Kills 3: Police | Suicide Car Bomber Outside Mogadishu Airport Kills 3: Police | A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu's international airport, killing at least three people.
Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the bomb detonated Monday as security forces were searching cars at the checkpoint, a few hundred meters (yards) from the main base of the African Union peacekeeping mission.
The checkpoint is close to United Nations offices and the Peace Hotel, which is often frequented by foreigners and officials. The powerful blast blew roofs off nearby buildings.
A second blast and heavy gunfire could be heard at the checkpoint after the attack, but there were no immediate details.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. However, the al-Qaida linked Islamic extremist group al-Shabab often carries out such attacks.
Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds across large parts of south and central Somalia, the group continues to wage deadly attacks across the country.
Somalia's capital has seen frequent bomb attacks at hotels and military checkpoints. In July, two al-Shabab suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars outside the office of the U.N.'s mine-clearing agency and an army checkpoint near the African Union's main base, killing 13.
The assaults have threatened this Horn of Africa nation's attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos. The country's presidential election, a key step toward recovery, already has been delayed multiple times because of security and other concerns. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/blasts-reported-airport-somalias-capital-44508807 | CENTER |
115,979,256 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | US-Led Coalition Service Member Dies in Iraq | US-Led Coalition Service Member Dies in Iraq | A service member in the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group has died in a "non-combat related incident" in Iraq.
A statement from the U.S. military said the service member was killed on Monday, without providing further details. It did not identify the individual or give a nationality.
According to the Pentagon, there are 4,815 U.S. troops in Iraq, including special operations forces. They are mainly providing logistical and other support to Iraqi combat forces, but have been operating closer to the front lines as part of a massive operation to retake the IS-held city of Mosul. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-led-coalition-service-member-dies-iraq-44513773 | CENTER |
115,968,756 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Israeli Media: Police to Question Netanyahu for Corruption | Israeli Media: Police to Question Netanyahu for Corruption | Israeli media is reporting that police are expected to question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a pair of corruption allegations.
A black screen was placed Monday in front of Netanyahu's official residence in apparent anticipation of the police investigators' arrival and to obstruct the view of journalists seeking to film them.
Netanyahu has denied what he calls the "baseless" reports that he received gifts from two businessmen.
Israel's Channel 2 TV has reported that Netanyahu accepted "favors" from businessmen in Israel and abroad. It said Netanyahu was the central suspect in a second investigation that also involves family members. It said a criminal probe is expected next week.
An opposition lawmaker is also campaigning for Netanyahu to be investigated over suspicions that donors improperly transferred money for his personal use. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-media-police-question-netanyahu-corruption-44508059 | CENTER |
55,266,663 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | New Year's Day Brings New Laws Regulating Phones, Guns and Soft Drinks | The new year brings a host of new laws that go into effect starting Sunday. | Play Facebook
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The new year brings a host of new laws across the country that go into effect starting Sunday — from restrictions on holding a cell phone while driving to greater freedom for carrying a gun in public.
While many states already restrict the use of cell phones in the car, California is now taking that precaution a step further. As of Sunday, it's illegal for drivers to hold their phones behind the wheel. The devices must be mounted and can be used only for functions that require a single tap or swipe, like answering a call.
"If you're not paying attention and something happens in front of you, by the time your mind thinks about it and you react to it, it is definitely too late," says Officer Jesus Chavez of the California Highway Patrol.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia becomes the first major American city with a tax on sugary sodas — one and a half cents an ounce. That's 24 cents for a 16-ounce drink. The industry is challenging the law in court.
Related: Philadelphia Council Passes Sweet Drink Tax
"The people who can least afford to pay it will be the ones that are paying a higher proportion of it," says Susan Nelly of the American Beverage Association.
Berkeley, California, was the first city to impose such a sugar tax, adopting it in 2015. When Michael Bloomberg was New York's mayor, he attempted to have a similar tax imposed by the board of health, but a court said only New York's city council had that power.
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And beginning on Sunday in Missouri, anyone 19 or older who owns a gun can carry it in public, concealed, without getting training or a permit. Sheriff Mike Sharp of Jackson County was among law enforcement officials who opposed the idea.
"This law would allow anybody to go get a gun, carry it, and never have to fire the weapon until they think it's necessary to use it, without any education whatsoever," he said.
But a sponsor of the new law, State Senator Brian Munzlinger, discounted fears of more gun violence. "The basis of this whole bill is that it allows law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families," he said.
California, by contrast, imposes tougher gun laws as of the first day of 2017. It's now illegal to sell most AR-15 style rifles with removable magazines, or ammunition clips, banned as assault weapons. Current owners must register them.
A collection of seized weapons seen on display. Anthony Behar / Sipa USA, file
Under a new law in Maine, doctors cannot prescribe more than a seven-day supply of such painkillers Vicodin or Percocet, or a 30-day supply for chronic pain. The measure is intended to reduce opioid abuse.
In Colorado, it's now a crime to misrepresent a pet as a service animal. The state says untrained pets interfere with real service dogs. Angela Easton, a service dog trainer, says pet owners often ask for an accessory allowing them to take their dogs almost anywhere.
Related: Gun Fight: Is the NRA Losing Its Grip on State Legislatures?
"We get calls from people who want a service dog vest so that they could keep their dog with them all the time."
Starting today in Illinois, bicycles have the same right of way as cars. The law was passed after a Vietnam veteran, Dennis Jurs, was killed when a driver failed to yield.
Drivers in Boston begin the new year with a lower speed limit — 25 miles an hour, down from 30, imposed to reduce traffic deaths.
And in Alabama as of Jan 1., there will be no more common law marriages. Getting married to celebrate the New Year will require a license and a ceremony, even one as simple as saying "I do" in the county courthouse. | Pete Williams | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-year-s-day-brings-laws-regulating-phones-guns-soft-n699986 | CENTER |
55,376,509 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | 35 Expelled Russian Diplomats and Families Arrive Back in Moscow | The envoys were deported over what the Obama administration said were cyber attacks directed by "the highest levels of the Russian government." | Play Facebook
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Dozens of Russian diplomats expelled from the United States as punishment for Moscow's alleged interference in the White House election landed back in their homeland Monday, state media said.
The envoys were ordered out of the U.S. in retaliation for what the Obama administration said were cyber attacks directed by "the highest levels of the Russian government."
The diplomats and their families departed Washington's Dulles International Airport on Sunday and arrived in Moscow early Monday, according to Russia's state-run TASS news agency.
On arrival, the diplomats' children were invited to the Kremlin's New Year and Christmas celebrations, according to TASS.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the expulsion but declined his own foreign minister's guidance to retaliate, choosing not to expel American diplomats stationed in Russia.
Instead, he also invited the children of the American diplomats to the Kremlin's party.
President Barack Obama ordered the diplomats' out of the country Thursday. He also imposed sanctions on two suspected hackers and three companies that allegedly provided support to cyber operations by Russia's GRU intelligence service.
Related: What Went On in Russia's Shuttered U.S. Compounds?
The CIA has concluded that the interference was intended to help Donald Trump win the election, and NBC News has reported that intelligence officials believe "with a high level of confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in the covert campaign.
"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions," Obama's statement said Thursday. "These data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government." | Abigail Williams;Alex Johnson;Maria Stromova | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/35-expelled-russian-diplomats-families-leave-united-states-n702171?cid=public-rss_20170103 | CENTER |
55,344,817 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | 35 Expelled Russian Diplomats and Families Leave the United States | President Barack Obama ordered the diplomats' expulsions in retaliation for alleged support for cyber operations by Russia's GRU intelligence service. | Play Facebook
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The 35 Russian diplomats whom the Obama administration ordered out of the country in retaliation for alleged hacking of the U.S. presidential election have left the country, a State Department official told NBC News on Sunday.
The diplomats' families went with them, said the official, who said any other details would have to come from Moscow. Russian news agencies quoted Russia's embassy as confirming the news, Reuters reported.
Related: U.S. Unveils Plan to Punish Russians for Election Hack
President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of the diplomats on Thursday and imposed sanctions on two suspected hackers and three companies that allegedly provided support to cyber operations by Russia's GRU intelligence service.
Related: The Spy Next Door: What Went On in Russia's Shuttered U.S. Compounds?
The CIA has concluded that the interference was intended to help Donald Trump win the election, and NBC News has reported that intelligence officials believe "with a high level of confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in the covert campaign.
Putin condemned U.S. sanctions on Friday but overruled his own foreign minister and said he would decline to retaliate by expelling U.S. diplomats. | Abigail Williams;Alex Johnson | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/35-expelled-russian-diplomats-families-leave-united-states-n702171?cid=public-rss_20170102 | CENTER |
55,219,569 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | 'Lucky': Texas State Rep. Survives Stray Bullet to Head on New Year's | Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez was watching over his children as they played with fireworks when the stray bullet pierced his skull Saturday night. | A Texas state representative is lucky to be alive after a stray bullet hit him in the back of the head while he and his family celebrated New Year's Eve. It came within millimeters from piercing his brain.
Rep. Armando Martinez, a Democrat who is in his seventh term serving District 39, was celebrating the New Year at a friend's house in Weslaco, Texas, when he got shot with the stray bullet. In a phone interview with NBC Latino, Martinez said the partygoers had huddled inside the garage when they heard celebratory gunshots ring through the lower Rio Grande Valley.
State Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, in an image taken on Feb. 2, 2005, in Austin, Texas. Deborah Cannon / AP, file
"At about 12 a.m., when the gunshots subsided, we walked outside with the kids to pop off some fireworks," Martinez said, while he recovered at the Valley Baptist Medical Center. "I was telling the kids to be careful and to not get burned. My wife came over, gave me a kiss and wished me a Happy New Year."
When she pulled away, that is when the stray bullet pierced Martinez's skull.
"I felt like I got hit by a sledgehammer," Martinez said. "I ducked and then walked into the garage to get some ice. I was in a lot of pain. When my wife took a picture and said there was a hole, I knew it was a bullet."
Martinez said he is "incredibly grateful" to the Weslaco firefighters and local paramedics for helping him get to a local hispital. A trauma and neurosurgeon removed a .223 caliber bullet from Martinez's head in a 45-minute medical procedure. The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is working on locating the source of the bullet, which could have come from a person firing a gun in the air two blocks away.
RELATED: Supreme Court Upholds Wide Reach of U.S. Gun Ban for Domestic Violence
"I was extremely lucky," Martinez said. "My surgeons said if it went a couple more millimeters deeper, I may not have been able to have this conversation right now."
Martinez, who was born and raised in Weslaco, explained that hearing gunshots from surrounding ranches during celebrations was common as he grew up. Over the years Weslaco's population has grown larger and denser, which has made some people nervous about their children playing outdoors during times like New Year's.
"This whole thing is going to be a start to putting a stop to people firing their guns in celebration," Martinez said. "The Valley was not as populous it is now. We have these subdivisions everywhere now. Especially after what happened on New Year's, it shows that someone can be hurt, and it can be tragic."
In his years serving his district, Martinez has worked extensively on bills relating to education, such as his HB-44 which would help establish a law school in the Rio Grande Valley. He has not worked on any legislation that would impose restrictions on gun ownership. After the incident, however, he is looking to take steps to prevent another accident.
RELATED: New Texas Law Allows College Students to Carry Guns on Campus
"It is something we are going to have to look at," Martinez said. "Our county Sheriff has done an excellent job working on this, and he is in touch with the District Attorney. We are going to look at what type of legislation we are going to offer this session."
Martinez said he expects to be going back home on Monday. He said that even though he was shot, he is thankful it did not happen to one of the children or to his wife.
"My biggest concern were the children," Martinez said. "Had my wife been any closer it could have been in her face or neck. The children saw everything happen."
"I do believe there is a silver lining that nobody else got seriously hurt," Martinez continued, "and I hope me and my family are in your prayers this year."
Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. | Brian Latimer | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/lucky-texas-state-rep-survives-stray-bullet-head-new-year-n702381?cid=public-rss_20170102 | CENTER |
55,353,002 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | Buried in Work Emails? Here's Another Reason to Envy the French | As of the new year, many French workers now have the "right to disconnect" from work email during their off-hours. | Fed up with checking emails on your days off or after hours? Well, now you can ignore them all, without fear of losing your job! That is, if you live in France.
As of the new year, many French workers now have the "right to disconnect" from work email during their off hours.
While you may be slammed with an avalanche of emails today — on a day that is technically a holiday — those lucky French are not paying attention to their inboxes, if they can help it.
Related: In Workplace of the Future, You're On Your Own (For Better or Worse)
The new law, which took effect January 1, requires businesses with more than 50 employees to negotiate after-hours email rules with their employees.
"Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash — like a dog. The texts, the messages, the emails — they colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down," Benoit Hamon, a member of Parliament, told the BBC in May when the measure was introduced.
While there is currently no penalty for violating the law, the hope is that companies will voluntarily comply with it.
There's proof that saying "au revoir" to work emails when you're off the clock may be a good thing: A study from the University of British Columbia found people who were told to check their email only three times per day were less stressed than their always-on counterparts.
Could something like this ever work in the United States? Jeffrey Adelson, general counsel and managing partner at Adelson, Testan, Brundo, Novell & Jimenez, said it would be a challenge.
"At some point in time the diligent employee will feel compelled to 'catch up,' which may result in working off the clock," he told NBC News. "My experience tells me the email faucet cannot be turned off once it is on."
Lynn Taylor, a workplace expert and author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant," told NBC News that while work-life balance is a "noble cause," she doesn't see a law like this ever coming to the United States.
"Improved work-life can be accomplished in more business- and employee-friendly ways," she said. "This legislation will hurt corporate productivity because our society has come to expect instant communications and unprecedented customer service." | Alyssa Newcomb | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/buried-work-emails-here-s-another-reason-envy-french-n702346?cid=public-rss_20170102 | CENTER |
59,574,648 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | Back from vacation, Obama to tie up loose ends before presidency ends | null | His last vacation behind him, President Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his presidency, an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump.
Obama returned to Washington midday Monday from Hawaii with less than three weeks left. His final days will largely be consumed by a bid to protect his endangered health care law, a major farewell speech and the ongoing handover of power to Trump.
In an email to supporters Monday, Obama said his valedictory speech on Jan. 10 follows a tradition set in 1796 when the first president, George Washington, spoke to the American people for the last time in office.
"I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here," Obama said.
Obama's chief speechwriter, Cody Keenan, traveled with Obama to Hawaii and spent much of the trip working on the speech. The Chicago trip will likely be Obama's last outside Washington as president and will include a "family reunion" for Obama's former campaign staffers.
Obama is also planning last-minute commutations and pardons, White House officials said, in line with his second-term effort to cut sentences for inmates given unduly harsh sentences for drug crimes. Though prominent offenders like Edward Snowden and Rod Blagojevich are also asking for leniency, Obama's final acts of clemency are expected to remain focused on drug offenders whose plight Obama tried but failed to address through criminal justice reform.
After taking office eight years ago, Obama and his aides were effusive in their praise for how Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, helped his team take over the massive federal bureaucracy. Obama has vowed to pass on the favor to Trump. But the transition hasn't been without incident.
The two teams have clashed over the Trump team's requests for information Obama aides fear could be used to eliminate government employees who worked on Obama priorities like climate change and minority rights overseas. Trump's team, meanwhile, has been frustrated by Obama's attempts to box Trump in with parting moves to block ocean drilling, declare new monuments and further empty out the Guantanamo Bay prison.
President Barack Obama visited Chicago on Oct. 27, 2015, where he spoke about guns and violence and took in a Bulls game. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
While on his annual vacation in Oahu, Obama asserted himself forcefully on two foreign policy issues that put him in direct conflict with Trump. Obama directed the U.S. to defy tradition by allowing a U.N. Security Council resolution criticizing Israel on settlements to pass, then slapped Russia with sweeping penalties over U.S. allegations of hacking.
The final days are Obama's last chance to define his presidency before he loses the bully pulpit and cedes his legacy to historians. For Obama, helping Americans understand how his two terms have reshaped American life is even more critical amid concerns that Trump may undo much of what he accomplished, including the health law.
As Trump and Republicans vow to gut the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are working to devise a strategy to protect the law by exploiting GOP divisions about how to replace it. To that end, Obama will travel Wednesday to the Capitol to meet with House and Senate Democrats, likely his last meeting with his party's lawmakers as president.
His administration is also working feverishly to finish up regulations in the pipeline that Obama hopes can be completed in the final days, perhaps increasing the likelihood his policies carry over. But the closer it gets to Trump's inauguration, the harder those tasks become.
Though Obama remains president until Jan. 20, the White House can't process the departure of all its staffers on a single day. So this week Obama aides will start "offloading," turning in their Blackberries and shutting down their computers for the last time, leaving a smaller staff on hand for the final days.
Obama must also prepare to become a private citizen for the first time in two decades. An office of the former president must be stood up, and Obama's family will be making arrangements to move into a rental home in Northwest Washington where they plan to stay until youngest daughter Sasha finishes high school.
The Obamas have long lamented how the presidency denied them freedom and privacy, with first lady Michelle Obama likening the White House to "a really nice prison." But on their last Hawaii vacation, the first family took time out to visit Breakout Waikiki, where visitors are "trapped" in a room together and must try, as a team, to escape.
Associated Press | Tribune News Services | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-president-obama-last-days-20170102-story.html | UNDEFINED |
59,515,364 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | How France's war on Islam became a bestseller | null | Long before France's correspondents, scholars, politicians, and police were all focused on the Islamic State, al Qaida, and the dangers posed by returning foreign fighters, there was David Thomson.
Nine months before the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher, Thomson, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale who had spent years reporting from North Africa and building contacts within jihadi circles, was repeatedly mocked on national television. He declared, in a now infamous panel debate on French fighters flocking to Syria, that some combatants he was in contact with who had traveled to the Middle East were determined to return and launch strikes against France.
"I've never heard that! Why would they go so far away if the enemy is already here?" one prominent academic, the sociologist Raphaël Liogier, scoffed on the set of a France 2 talk show, accusing Thomson of playing into the hands of populists. Another panel guest, the researcher Hanane Karimi, warned of the risk of "stigmatizing Muslims," while another derided Thomson as a neophyte and a dabbler, sneering that just because he had "done a report and interviewed tens of jihadists" that he was not "the reigning expert on the question. You need to show a bit of proof of humility."
Flash forward to December 2016, however, and after two years of consecutive terrorist attacks on domestic soil, 13 straight months under a state of emergency, and a coming presidential election, Thomson - dubbed "the man who talked with jihadists" and a "prophet" by some in France's media - has become France's favorite public intellectual. Following the publication of his most recent best-selling book, Les Revenants, or The Returned, which features interviews with fighters for the Islamic State who have come back from "the caliphate," Thomson has graced the front pages of Le Monde. He's starred in flattering profiles, in-depth interviews, and panel discussions for nearly every major French print, online, and broadcast outlet. The publishers of Les Revenants ordered an urgent new print run after the book quickly sold out; secondhand copies are being offered online at three times the sale price.
Thomson's book is based on more than two years of repeated interviews with 20 subjects provided in face-to-face meetings in prisons, homes, and kebab shops in France, and over the phone, including operatives in Syria and Turkey. The author, who over the past decade has spoken to more than 100 mainly French but also Tunisian and Belgian jihadis, paints a picture, using their own words, of fighters who were seduced by the idea of a hedonistic, violent, and transcendental experience, which Thomson calls "LOL jihad," and who have returned from the caliphate often disappointed, typically unrepentant, and in some cases ready to do it all again.
"Charlie [Hebdo] was the most beautiful day of my life. … I would so much like it to happen again," says Lena, one of Thomson's more bloodthirsty subjects. "And I hope a sister will undertake the next targeted attack."
But it is Thomson's - and his subjects' - verdict on the fraught topic of the role of Islam that has helped win so much attention. A marginalized minority's sense of humiliation, discrimination, and post-colonial fury; absent fathers and family trauma; the slippery slope between juvenile delinquency and "holy war"; and the promise of a sexual paradise - all these are important in explaining jihad in France, Thomson argues. However, none of this would be enough to tip his interviewees over the edge without the important and too-often-dismissed role of religion and politico-spiritual convictions - specifically, the hard-line Salafist Saudi Wahhabist school of Islam - which paved the way for the initial descent of his subjects into violent jihadism and helps explain why they are unlikely to ever re-emerge.
France's public intellectuals - scholars, judges, religious figures, "deradicalization" proponents, and journalists - have spent the last few years grasping for answers, amid the seemingly never-ending news of homegrown attackers and foiled plots, for how their country became, as Thomson reminds readers, the Western nation "most threatened, targeted and hit" by jihad. But few, wrote Le Figaro columnist Alexandre Devecchio in a recent column, "succeeded in fully convincing."
Internationally known figures like the political scientists Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy engaged in a vicious battle this year over whether France should understand its jihad problem as the "Islamization of radicalism" (Roy) - that is, Islam is not to blame - or the "radicalization of Islam" (Kepel) - yes, it is. But the rival scholars' fight stayed mainly within elite circles and both eventually came in for criticism. Roy has been widely questioned for dismissing Islamic State members' theologically grounded convictions, while Kepel has been reproached for viewing Islamist terrorism too narrowly through the religious prism. Les Revenants, on the other hand, has become a "publishing phenomenon," Devecchio says, that has "reconciled Kepel and Roy."
"Jihadism 'made in France' is the fruit of the meeting between radical Islam and the era of emptiness," he says. "The hybrid child of a murderous utopia and a disenchanted époque."
The publication of Les Revenants, however, also happens to come at an opportune political moment. The 2017 French presidential election is only months away and is shaping up as a quasi-referendum on terrorism and Islam. After equivocating for years on how much to "take on" France's second religion, French politics as a whole seems to be coming around to the idea entirely. Before Thomson released Les Revenants, then-Socialist prime minister and now presidential aspirant Manuel Valls was already railing against Salafism as the "[antechamber] of terrorism." Few voices on the left today maintain that Islam has nothing to do with the threats facing France. Meanwhile, on the right, both candidates expected to lead in the presidential election next spring, Republican François Fillon and National Front leader Marine Le Pen, have characterized the Muslim faith as antithetical to French values. Thomson's book comes as France appears to have decided that the debate over the role of Islam in its terror problem is finished - and those who say the religion has a problem have won. | Emma-Kate Symons;C;Foreign Policy | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-france-islam-f108957a-d11e-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8-20170102-story.html | UNDEFINED |
116,028,792 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | 10-Month-Old Revived Twice After Being Exposed to Fentanyl | 10-Month-Old Revived Twice After Being Exposed to Fentanyl | Authorities in Massachusetts say a 10-month-old baby had to be revived twice after she was exposed to fentanyl.
Police arrived at the Methuen (mih-THOO'-uhn) residence early Saturday afternoon after receiving a report of a child not breathing.
First responders took the child to Lawrence General Hospital, where police say she stopped breathing twice and had to be resuscitated. She was later airlifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where she's in stable condition.
Authorities say hospital tests indicate the baby had the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl (FEHN'-tuh-nihl) in her system.
The Department of Children and Families says it has taken custody of the baby. The incident remains under investigation.
Mayor Stephen Zanni says, "The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries." | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/10-month-revived-exposed-fentanyl-44514403 | CENTER |
115,923,121 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | ISIS Claims Istanbul Nightclub Attack That Killed 39 | ISIS Claims Istanbul Nightclub Attack That Killed 39 | ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting rampage at a New Year's Eve celebration at an Istanbul nightclub that killed at least 39 people and injured nearly 70 more, including one American, as authorities continued a manhunt for the assailant.
The gunman entered the popular Reina club early Sunday morning armed with what authorities described as a long-barreled weapon. Surveillance video footage of the moments leading up to shooting spree shows the shooter firing his weapon as he approached the club. He killed a policeman and a civilian outside of the club before "[raining] bullets in a very cruel and merciless way on innocent people" inside the club, according to Visip Sahin, the governor of Istanbul.
Most of the victims in the massacre were shot at close range or took bullets directly to the head, an official morgue report said.
ISIS propaganda channels published a statement Monday claiming that the attack was a response to Turkey's military operations against the Islamic State group. The statement suggests that the nightclub was targets because it is where "Christians celebrate their apostate holiday" although many of the 39 victims may have been Musliam.
"One of the hero soldiers of the caliphate hit one of the most famous nightclubs where Christians celebrate their apostate holiday ... so the Turkish government knows that the Muslim blood it is spilling through its airstrikes and artillery will strike back in the midst of its nation," the ISIS statement said.
Fifteen of those killed were Turkish, and the other 24 hailed from a diverse array of countries including Belgium, France, India, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, according to Turkish media.
The Reina club had attracted a diverse crowd of between 400 and 500 patrons from foreign countries as well as Turkey to ring in the new year.
Among the nearly 70 people injured was a small business owner from Greenville, Delaware, Jake Raak, who was shot in the leg, family members told ABC station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. Raak's brother, Michael, told WPVI-TV the bullet may have struck his cellphone, which prevented him from being injured more seriously.
The U.S. is not aware of any Americans dying in the attack, the U.S. State Department said early Sunday.
At a press conference Sunday, authorities said the assailant arrived wearing a jacket and pants, and is believed to have left wearing different clothing.
ABC News' Darren Reynolds, Devin Villacis, Engin Bas, Benjamin Gittleson, Troy McMullen and The Associated Press contributed to this report. | Abc News;More Michael | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-claims-istanbul-nightclub-attack-killed-39-manhunt/story?id=44509710 | CENTER |
116,007,287 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Reports: Turkish Police Detain 8 People in Connection With Istanbul Nightclub Attack; Gunman Not Among Those in Custody | Reports: Turkish Police Detain 8 People in Connection With Istanbul Nightclub Attack; Gunman Not Among Those in Custody | Reports: Turkish police detain 8 people in connection with Istanbul nightclub attack; gunman not among those in custody. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/reports-turkish-police-detain-people-connection-istanbul-nightclub-44509708 | CENTER |
116,004,485 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | 10 Things to Know for Today | 10 Things to Know for Today | Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. ISLAMIC STATE GROUP CLAIMS ATTACK ON ISTANBUL NIGHTCLUB
It is reportedly carried out in "revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders" of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
2. FOR WHOM THE 1980S STILL HOLD RELEVANCE
Many of Donald Trump's cultural touchstones — those he'd frequently namedrop at campaign rallies and on Twitter — were at their peak in the 1980s.
3. OBAMA IN CLOSING STRETCH OF PRESIDENCY
His final days in office will be consumed by a bid to protect his health care law, a farewell speech and the ongoing handover of power to Trump.
4. MEDICARE LAUNCHES REVAMP FOR HEART ATTACKS, HIP FRACTURES
The goal of new approaches is to encourage coordination that promotes quality and contains costs.
5. WHERE CHILDREN STARVE AS WAR DRAGS ON
Yemen's children are dying of malnutrition as a conflict and a blockade imposed by a Saudi-led coalition cause food prices to soar in the Arab world's poorest nation.
6. WHO SEEKS TO PULL POT SHOPS OUT OF BANKING LIMBO
Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is leading an effort to make sure vendors working with marijuana businesses don't have their banking services taken away.
7. ARMLESS SYRIAN BOY THRIVES IN THE U.S.
Ahmad Alkhalaf finds a new life in Massachusetts but isn't sure whether he'll be reunited with his family anytime soon.
8. CHINA STARTS 2017 ENGULFED BY SMOG
Authorities in Beijing and other cities across the nation delay dozens of flights and close highways.
9. DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS REJECTS MARIAH CAREY'S SABOTAGE CLAIM
The productions firm is hitting back against the singer's claim it sabotaged her live performance on its "New Year's Rockin' Eve" special, saying that's "absurd."
10. KELLY, MCCOY, BAALKE LATEST TO FEEL THE NFL AX
More moves could be coming, too. Is Chuck Pagano safe in Indianapolis? Might the Saints do something with Sean Payton? | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/10-things-today-44509305 | CENTER |
55,373,849 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | Federal Judge Rules New Jersey Town Discriminated in Years-Denied Mosque Case | Judge Michael A. Shipp of New Jersey found that the Bernards Township planning board treated the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge differently. | After a multi-year planning battle that has involved dozens of public hearings as well as allegations of anti-Muslim animus, a federal judge ruled Saturday that a New Jersey township discriminated against an Islamic society by applying different parking standards in the group's bid to build a mosque, which the township rejected last January.
The ruling brings the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge one step closer to having a place to congregate and pray, according to the society's lawyer.
A rendering of the proposed mosque taken from court documents.
"This property was purchased in November of 2011. The development application was made in April of 2012. At this point, we're coming up on five years," Adeel Abdullah Mangi, an attorney representing the society, told NBC News. "This is a permitted use under the zoning ordinance. This bring the local community one step closer to have a place of their own in this township. That means everything to the local Muslims."
RELATED: Islamic Group Files Lawsuit Over Denied Mosque After Years-Long Planning Battle, Vandalism
U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Shipp of New Jersey found that the Bernards Township planning board treated the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge differently when it required more parking spots for the proposed mosque than for Christian churches under a ratio of one spot for every three seats.
Shipp also wrote that the 3-to-1 ratio for churches applies equally to mosques and synagogues.
"Viewing the pleadings in the light most favorable to defendants, the court finds that defendants discriminatorily applied the parking ordinance on the basis of religion," Shipp concluded.
"This is a landmark ruling interpreting the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that will have national impact in reaffirming that townships cannot treat applicants differently based on their religion."
In response to a request by NBC News for comment, Bernards Township Mayor Carol Bianchi referred to a statement that criticized Shipp's ruling and said the township is weighing its next moves, including an appeal.
"This decision has major implications for municipal land use boards and their ability to determine the actual off-street parking needs of proposed projects without fear of alleged (religious land-use) violations," Bianchi said in the statement. "The Township vehemently disagrees with the Court's decision and awaits a full analysis of the 57 page decision by its attorneys, who only learned of the decision on New Year's Day."
In oral arguments on Dec. 20, township attorney Howard Mankoff denied the board applied different standards based on religion, saying it was instead based on parking needs, according to the court transcript.
During questioning from the judge, Mankoff did say that a mosque is not considered a church under the township definition, adding that "they're different because they have different needs."
An excerpt of court documents detailing the battle over a proposed mosque in New Jersey.
Citing a traffic study, Mankoff said mosque worshippers would likely be arriving one per car, straight from work, for the most well-attended religious services on Friday afternoons, court transcripts said. Mankoff argued that the planning board thus requires discretion in applying the township parking ordinance.
In its 2012 application to build the 4,252-square-foot mosque, the society used the 3-to-1 ratio and asked for a total of 50 parking spots, based on a maximum attendance of 150 worshippers over the next five to 10 years, according to court documents.
RELATED: Justice Department Sues New Jersey Township Over Years-Denied Mosque
The board, however, rejected the calculation and instead voted for a total of 107 parking spaces, an amount based on the findings of a traffic engineer hired by a community group that opposed the mosque, according to court documents.
"This decision has major implications for municipal land use boards and their ability to determine the actual off-street parking needs of proposed projects without fear of alleged (religious land-use) violations."
The Islamic society, which accuses the township of bending to anti-Muslim animus in the community, claims in its March lawsuit that the stricter parking requirement "laid the groundwork for each of the board's bases for denying (the society's) preliminary and final site plan approval," according to the complaint.
On Saturday, Shipp ruled that the application of the parking ordinance violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion. He also found that portions of the ordinance, as applied to "churches," were unconstitutionally vague, writing that it "provides the Planning Board with unbridled and unconstitutional discretion."
Mangi called the judge's decision a "landmark ruling" with national implications.
"This ruling resolves the key disputed land use issues in the case because many of the Township's bases for denial depended on its requirement of a supersized parking lot," Mangi said in a statement. "This is a landmark ruling interpreting the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that will have national impact in reaffirming that townships cannot treat applicants differently based on their religion."
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The New Year's Eve decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn national attention and has also prompted the Justice Department to file its own federal suit against Bernards Township in November.
Over nearly four years, the township held a total of 39 public hearings about the mosque, during which time the Islamic society says it was targeted by anti-Islamic sentiment, court documents said.
A flyer, for instance, was allegedly distributed in the community asking whether terrorist acts are "something they taught in your mosques and at home," and the society's mailbox was defaced with three-inch stickers to change its acronym from "ISBR" to "ISIS," according to the lawsuit.
An image of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge's vandalized mailbox taken from court documents.
During its investigation, documents turned over to the Justice Department revealed some Bernards Township officials named in the society's lawsuit used their personal email accounts to allegedly make statements showing animus or discrimination toward Muslims.
Attorneys for the society, who have also received those documents, asked a judge in December to compel a search of personal files belonging to members of the township committee and planning board that the group is suing.
Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. | Chris Fuchs | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/federal-judge-rules-new-jersey-town-discriminated-years-denied-mosque-n702296?cid=public-rss_20170102 | CENTER |
52,909,699 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | House GOP Votes To Strip Independence From Congressional Ethics Office | The move is drawing backlash from Democrats, who say it's hypocritical given that Trump was elected vowing to "drain the swamp" in Washington. Republicans say it improves due process for the accused. | House GOP Votes To Strip Independence From Congressional Ethics Office
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Brandon/AP Alex Brandon/AP
The House Republican Conference voted Monday night to approve a change to House rules to weaken the independence of the Office of Congressional Ethics and place it under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee — a panel controlled by party leaders.
It will be part of a broader House Rules package voted on by the full body on Tuesday, after the 115th Congress officially convenes and the House elects a speaker.
It's a move that is already causing a backlash among Democrats, who say it's hypocritical given that President-elect Donald Trump was elected vowing to "drain the swamp" in Washington.
The Office of Congressional Ethics was established in 2008 under House Democrats, in response to the era of lobbying scandals made notable by Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist who went to prison on corruption charges.
It is the first independent body to have an oversight role in House ethics. There is no Senate counterpart. The OCE independently reviews allegations of misconduct against House members and staff, and if deemed appropriate refers them to the House Ethics Committee for review. The OCE cannot independently punish lawmakers for any ethics violations.
The language approved Monday night, authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., would prevent staff from making public statements independent of the House Ethics Committee.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was speaker when the OCE was created, criticized the decision in a statement.
"Republicans claim they want to 'drain the swamp,' but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions," she wrote. "Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress."
In a statement, Goodlatte said his rules change would "strengthen" the OCE and improve due process rights for those subject to ethical investigations.
"The amendment builds upon and strengthens the existing Office of Congressional Ethics by maintaining its primary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics. It also improves upon due process rights for individuals under investigation, as well as witnesses called to testify. The OCE has a serious and important role in the House, and this amendment does nothing to impede their work," Goodlatte wrote.
The Goodlatte amendment still would allow the OCE to accept and review complaints, but it would bar the consideration of anonymous complaints. It also would rename it the "Office of Congressional Complaint Review."
It's not clear whether House Speaker Paul Ryan would intervene to stop the language from making it into the final House rules package to be adopted on Tuesday. In November, Ryan stopped the House from bringing back earmarks — provisions that in the past allowed members to direct spending to specific projects.
"We just had a 'drain the swamp' election," Ryan reportedly said at the time. "Let's not just turn around and bring back earmarks two weeks later." | Susan Davis | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507955013/house-gop-votes-to-strip-independence-from-congressional-ethics-office?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | LEFT |
115,896,990 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Liz Weston: The Money Numbers You Need to Know | Liz Weston: The Money Numbers You Need to Know | Some numbers matter more than others. How much you make is important, for example, but your financial health depends far more on how much you keep.
Knowing certain numbers can help you understand how well you're converting income into wealth, as well as the impact of your spending and tax situation on that process. The following calculations can help you make better decisions.
1. YOUR WEALTH RATIO
A wealth ratio is a measure of how effectively you've converted your lifetime income into wealth.
Calculating the ratio is a key exercise in "Your Money or Your Life," a guidebook for the simple living and early retirement movements, first published in 1992. Authors Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin suggested adding up the annual earnings over your entire life, as reported in Social Security statements or old tax returns. To that total, you can add in other money received that wasn't reported to Social Security, such as investment and interest income, inheritances, gifts and gambling winnings.
The next step is to calculate your net worth — what you own (the value of your assets) minus what you owe (your debts).
Your net worth divided by your lifetime income, expressed as a percentage, is your wealth ratio — or what you have to show for all the money flowing into your life. If you've earned $500,000 and your net worth is $125,000, your wealth ratio is 25 percent. If you've earned $1 million and your net worth is $2 million, your wealth ratio is 200 percent.
There's no pass/fail here. Younger people likely will have lower ratios than older people who've been saving and investing for decades. Knowing your number can motivate you to look for ways to save and invest more so that your ratio grows.
2. YOUR OVERHEAD RATIO
How much of your after-tax income is eaten up by basic, must-have expenses? If you're having trouble making ends meet, calculating your overhead ratio can help explain why. It also can be handy to know when you're determining if you can afford new loan payments or how much to save in an emergency fund.
A must-have expense is one that can't be delayed or skipped without serious consequences. They include shelter costs, transportation, groceries, utilities, insurance, minimum loan payments and child care. In their book "All Your Worth," bankruptcy expert (and current Massachusetts senator) Elizabeth Warren and her daughter Amelia Warren Tyagi recommend limiting must-haves to 50 percent of after-tax income.
A 50 percent limit isn't easy to achieve, but it frees up money for "wants" (30 percent) and savings or debt repayment (20 percent). Sticking to a 50/30/20 budget also helps people better survive job loss and other economic setbacks by limiting their overhead. Having an emergency fund equal to three months' worth of must-have expenses is a good goal after you get on track with retirement savings and have paid off troublesome debt such as credit cards. Any loans may be affordable if the payments don't push your must-have expenses over the 50 percent mark.
3. YOUR TAX RATES
Your tax bracket doesn't reveal the amount of taxes paid on your total income. Instead, the bracket (also called the marginal tax rate) reflects how much Uncle Sam claimed of the last dollar you earned. If you're a single filer in the 25 percent federal tax bracket, the first $9,275 of your 2016 taxable income is taxed at the 10 percent rate, the next $28,375 at 15 percent and the amount above $37,650 at 25 percent.
Your bracket determines the value of your itemized deductions and tax-advantaged investments. Someone in a low tax bracket, for example, doesn't get much value from write-offs, such as mortgage interest deductions or investments such as municipal bonds or variable annuities, that can benefit people in higher brackets.
Your future tax bracket matters, as well. If you anticipate your bracket will drop in retirement — which happens for most people, according to experts — making deductible contributions to individual retirement accounts now is a good plan, because the tax breaks from those contributions likely will outweigh any taxes you'll pay on future withdrawals of the IRAs. If you expect your marginal tax rate to be higher in retirement, making nondeductible contributions to a Roth IRA, which offers tax-free withdrawals in retirement, could be the better plan.
Your tax bracket, like your overhead and wealth ratios, can change over time. Check these numbers regularly to stay on track with your financial life.
———————
This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.
Liz Weston is a certified financial planner and columnist at NerdWallet. Email: [email protected] . Twitter: @lizweston.
RELATED LINKS:
Social Security Administration: Get your Social Security statement https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/
NerdWallet: How to build a budget https://nerd.me/2h4dWq7
Internal Revenue Service: 2016 tax brackets https://www.irs.com/articles/2016-federal-tax-rates-personal-exemptions-and-standard-deductions | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/liz-weston-money-numbers-44512148 | CENTER |
4,487,946 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Turkish authorities close to identifying Istanbul gunman | Turkish authorities on Monday released the clearest image yet of the man believed to have wreaked havoc on a nightclub full of New Year's Eve revelers, and officials believed they were closing in on positively identifying the gunman. | Turkish authorities on Monday released the clearest image yet of the man believed to have wreaked havoc on a nightclub full of New Year's Eve revelers, and officials believed they were closing in on positively identifying the gunman.
Expand / Contract Turkish police on Monday released an image of the man believed to be responsible for the club Reina massacre.
ISIS on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 39 and injured about 70, and Turkish media reports had said investigators believed the killer was likely from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. The discovery of new evidence at the scene of the attack was also bolstering the effort to name the suspect -- who remains at large.
"Information about the fingerprints and basic appearance of the terrorist have been found," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said at a Monday news conference. "In the process after this, work to identify him swiftly will be carried out."
AMERICAN INJURED IN ISTANBUL ATTACK SAVED BY HIS PHONE
Turkish investigators detained eight people Monday in connection with the attack on the Reina nightclub, however, none were believed to be the gunman. It was unclear how the eight people may be connected to the attack, which had indications of planning, including the possibility that the gunman cased Reina before the massacre.
"He stormed in and immediately headed for the people to the left, which is always more crowded...I wonder if he came here before because he seemed to know where to go," barman Mehmet Yilan told Reuters.
Experts who had viewed full video of the attack told pro-government Turkish paper The Daily Sabah that the assailant appeared professionally trained. He reportedly fired more than 180 bullets during an episode that lasted about seven minutes before going to the kitchen, changing his clothes and escaping by blending in with the fleeing crowd.
A statement distributed by ISIS said the attack was carried out by a "heroic soldier of the caliphate" who attacked the nightclub "where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast."
It said the man fired an automatic rifle and also detonated hand grenades in "revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders" of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The group described Turkey as "the servant of the cross" and also suggested it was in retaliation for Turkish military offensives against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
"We let infidel Turkey know that the blood of Muslims that is being shed by its airstrikes and artillery shelling will turn into fire on its territories," the statement said.
According to the Hurriyet and Karar newspapers, police had established similarities between the nightclub shooting and the high-casualty suicide bomb and gun attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport in June and was investigating whether the same ISIS cell could have carried out both attacks.
On Monday, Anadolu said more than 100 ISIS targets in Syria have been hit by Turkey and Russia in separate operations.
Citing the Turkish Chief of General Staff's office, Anadolu said Turkish jets struck eight ISIS targets while tanks and artillery fired upon 103 targets near Al Bab, killing 22 extremists while destroying many structures. The Russian jets also attacked ISIS targets in Dayr Kak, five miles to the southwest of Al Bab.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/turkish-authorities-close-to-identifying-istanbul-gunman.html | RIGHT |
55,266,547 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | Colon Cancer Patients Seek Latest Treatments Through Social Media | A Facebook group allows patients and their families to share the latest medical information. | How can cancer patients be sure they're getting the latest treatments?
Fewer than 5 percent of adults with cancer will participate in a clinical trial, according to the American Cancer Society. Often it's because patients and their doctors may be unaware a trial for their condition exists.
A social media group is spreading potentially life-saving information, in real time.
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It's called Colontown, a private Facebook community with over 2,500 colon cancer patients at different stages, loved ones, and caregivers sharing support, as well as scientific advances.
Member Kristin Tabeling of Colorado Springs, Colorado found a clinical trial there for her husband, Chris, who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. When the 44-year-old high school principal's chemotherapy stopped working, Tabeling sought a life-saving treatment for her husband.
"I don't know how you sort through 3,500 clinical trials with words that you don't even know what they mean," Tabeling told NBC News.
Map of Colontown. http://www.colontown.org/
The Colontown community is divided into 40 "neighborhoods" — each focused on special interests — with comical names, like Rectalburgh. One section called the "the clinic" is dedicated to clinical trials.
That's where Tom Marsilje, a San Diego scientist specializing in cancer drug research, regularly posts. Marsilje is also a stage 4 colon cancer patient searching for his own cure.
"Now that I'm an activist and an advocate for others; I go through my research project as I try to save my own life," said Marsilje. "As soon as scientific information is released on paper or a scientific meeting, I post it to the Colontown Clinic, in real time," says Marsilje.
Kristin and Chris Tabeling hiking together. Kristin Tabeling / Kristin Tabeling
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a large government organized database with clinical trial information. However, the database of the latest interventional trials intimidated even Marsilje, who has an extensive oncology background. Marsilje believes "the clinic" section of Colontown levels the playing field, giving people access to cutting edge scientific research.
Related: Where You Live Determines What Kills You
There have long been online support groups and blogs for cancer patients and people with other diseases and Colontown is the latest tool to help patients find comfort and strength in numbers.
"When I sit in the hospital late at night, when Chris is sleeping after a procedure and I look out the window and it's dark; I miss my kids, I miss my husband," said Tabeling. "I can get online and someone is there to talk to me, to listen to me, to tell me that I am not alone.
For more information or to apply to be a member, go to Colontown, or call the helpline at (877) 422-2030. | John Torres;Lauren Dunn;Parminder Deo | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/colon-cancer-patients-seek-latest-treatments-through-social-media-n700591?cid=public-rss_20170106 | CENTER |
115,888,740 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | 10 Things to Know for Tuesday | 10 Things to Know for Tuesday | Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:
1. TURKEY HUNTS FOR NIGHTCLUB GUNMAN
The Islamic State militant group says a "soldier of the caliphate" carried out the mass shooting that killed 39 people ringing in the new year in Istanbul.
2. 'THIS EPIDEMIC HITS EVERYBODY'
Bruce Bandler, a federal prosecutor in Pa. who is fighting the opioid crisis, understands addiction's toll because he lost his son to heroin.
3. WHO WILL REPRESENT HIMSELF AS JURY WEIGHS DEATH PENALTY
Dylann Roof, convicted of slaying nine black parishoners at a S.C. church, will act as his own lawyer in his trial's sentencing phase — where execution is on the line.
4. WHAT OBAMA WILL FOCUS ON IN FINAL WEEKS
The outgoing president will put his energy into protecting his endangered health care law in his closing days in the White House.
5. WHY ISRAELI POLICE GRILL NETANYAHU
Officials open a criminal probe into suspicions the prime minister improperly accepted gifts from wealthy supporters — accusations he denies.
6. SUICIDE TRUCK BOMBER HITS BAGHDAD MARKET
The blast killed at least 36 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
7. TRUMP RAPS CHICAGO MAYOR ON SPIKE IN CRIME
On Twitter, the president-elect calls on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to "ask for federal help" if city officials can't stop a surge in murders, which hit 762 in 2016.
8. STORMS HIT TEXAS, SOUTH WITH FLASH FLOODS, POWER OUTAGES
Wind damage was also reported in Houston, central Louisiana and southern Mississippi.
9. WORKER SPENDS FLIGHT IN PLANE'S HOLD
United Airlines says an employee of a ground handling vendor was unhurt after flying from North Carolina to Washington, D.C. in the jet's cargo area.
10. CAROLINA EQUIPMENT MANAGER STANDS IN AS GOALIE
The Hurricanes called on Jorge Alves as emergency goalie at the end of a game when their backup was too sick to play. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/10-things-tuesday-44518376 | CENTER |
59,572,064 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office | null | House Republicans on Monday voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.
The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on Tuesday. The package also includes a means for Republican leaders to punish lawmakers if there is a repeat of the Democratic sit-in last summer over gun control.
Under the ethics change pushed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics would fall under the control of the House Ethics Committee, which is run by lawmakers. It would be known as the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, and the rule change would require that "any matter that may involve a violation of criminal law must be referred to the Committee on Ethics for potential referral to law enforcement agencies after an affirmative vote by the members," according to Goodlatte's office.
Lawmakers would have the final say under the change. House Republicans voted 119-74 for the Goodlatte measure despite arguments from Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., against the change. They failed to sway rank-and-file Republicans, some of whom have felt unfairly targeted by the OCE.
"The amendment builds upon and strengthens the existing Office of Congressional Ethics by maintaining its primary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics," Goodlatte said in a statement.
Democrats, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, reacted angrily.
"Republicans claim they want to 'drain the swamp,' but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions," the California lawmaker said in a statement. "Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress."
Chris Carson, president of the League of Women Voters, said Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., should be ashamed of himself and his leadership team.
"We all know the so-called House Ethics Committee is worthless for anything other than a whitewash — sweeping corruption under the rug. That's why the independent Office of Congressional Ethics has been so important. The OCE works to stop corruption and that's why Speaker Ryan is cutting its authority. Speaker Ryan is giving a green light to congressional corruption."
The OCE was created in March 2008 after the cases of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who served more than seven years in prison on bribery and other charges; as well as cases of former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who was charged in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and pleaded guilty to corruption charges and former Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., convicted on corruption in a separate case.
Associated Press | Tribune News Services | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-house-gop-independent-ethics-office-20170102-story.html | UNDEFINED |
55,336,178 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | Tweeter-in-Chief? How Trump Campaigned, and Will Govern, on Social Media | America can expect more policy pronouncements in 140-character missives from the president-elect before and after his inauguration. | Play Facebook
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Getting off social media won't be one of Donald Trump's New Year's resolutions, a top aide confirmed Sunday, adding that America can expect more policy pronouncements and newsmakers in 140-character missives from the president-elect before and after his inauguration.
Days after Trump surprised national security experts by calling for more nuclear arms, incoming press secretary Sean Spicer told ABC News that Trump wouldn't shy away from using Twitter freely when in office — although the last time U.S. nuclear policy was detailed, it came after a year of deliberation.
President-elect Donald Trump at a rally last month in West Allis, Wisconsin. Evan Vucci / AP
"I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45-plus million people that follow him on social media, that he can have a direct conversation. He doesn't have to have it funneled through the media," Spicer said on ABC's "This Week." "You're going to see — absolutely you're going to see Twitter."
Spicer said Trump, who announced shortly after the election that he'd cut back on his Twitter use, isn't likely to do that because "when he tweets, he gets results."
Trump's 2016 was colored by dozens of Twitter-spurred headlines and results — some intended, some not. Let's take a look at his top 140-character moments.
1. He declared his love for all Spanish speakers because of taco bowls
This one earned mockery, accusations of stereotyping, and a whole lot of retweets when the Republican candidate tweeted a picture of himself eating a taco bowl on Cinco De Mayo with the caption "I love Hispanics."
Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! https://t.co/ufoTeQd8yA pic.twitter.com/k01Mc6CuDI — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2016
2. He feuded with a former Miss Universe over her weight
After rival Hillary Clinton criticized Trump for his treatment of a former Miss Universe winner — allegedly calling her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" because she is Latina — Trump called the woman "disgusting" and said she had a sex tape. No such sex tape was ever found.
Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an "angel" without checking her past, which is terrible! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
3. And just about everyone else
Vice President Joe Biden is "not very bright"; Marco Rubio was a "light weight"; Jeb Bush is "confused"; Whoopi Goldberg is "very sad!" and listening to Carly Fiorina prompts a "massive headache." The New York Times catalogued 289 targets of these insults throughout the race.
He even cryptically threatened the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, saying he would "spill the beans" on Heidi Cruz.
Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016
4. He announced his vice presidential pick in a Tweet
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence became the first vice presidential candidate to be announced on social media, when Trump confirmed the news on Twitter after a number of media outlets reported it before the news conference at which Trump intended to announce it as a surprise.
I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2016
5. He connected directly with voters, offering them nicknames and catchphrases
Trump constantly retweeted supporters who showered him with praising tweets, boosting engagement and creating a seemingly organic, direct way of addressing the candidate. Nicknames like "Crooked Hillary" and "Lyin' Ted" were mentioned at rallies, but the nicknames were cemented on Twitter.
6. He promoted racists and hateful users, too
This wasn't always a positive social strategy: After Trump retweeted several apparent white supremacists, white supremacists said they were boosted by what they considered a "wink-wink" of support, and Trump was widely condemned for amplifying the voices of those who promote hateful ideologies.
7. He reinvented traditional campaign rapid response
While most campaigns use press releases and surrogate interviews to combat their rivals in real time, Trump's Twitter account was his top surrogate, offering up countless rapid-fire tweets responding to rivals and the day's news. | Jane C. Timm | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/tweeter-chief-how-trump-campaigned-will-govern-social-media-n702126?cid=public-rss_20170102 | CENTER |
59,611,266 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | Waukegan City Council to consider rezoning requests for South Sheridan Road development plan | null | A series of rezoning requests will come before the Waukegan City Council Tuesday, part of a larger push to redevelop the southern stretch of Genesee Street.
Approval of those requests doesn't mean the proposed project at the center of the South Sheridan Road revitalization plan can move ahead though, according to Ald. Sam Cunningham, 1st, whose ward includes the properties up for rezoning.
The proposed mixed-use development at South Avenue and Genesee Street would include apartments, some of them income-restricted, as well as single-family bungalows, townhomes, retail space and an opportunity hub where different agencies or nonprofits could set up shop and serve the neighborhood, said Mike Higbee, the owner of the development group Sheridan Partners LLC and Development Concepts Inc.
The proposed $45 million investment could happen in the next three years, he has said. The goal is for the project to be a catalyst for other development in the area.
The requests before the council Tuesday center on the buildings that would front Genesee Street, also commonly known as South Sheridan Road, though also include several lots on Kennard and Hill streets, according to renderings provided to the council. The buildings would have retail space on the ground floor and affordable multi-family units above.
The largest of the requests includes 43 total lots, 32 of which are owned by the city but all of which are under contract to be bought by Sheridan Partners LLC, according to council documents. Another three lots are owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation, which the city is working to acquire on behalf of Sheridan Partners LLC.
If approved Tuesday evening, the lots' zoning would go from industrial to residential, something that should have happened a long time ago, Cunningham said.
The process has been much more inclusive than other efforts in the area, which makes him hopeful that this time they'll be successful, he said. And even if they're not, the zoning changes are a move in the right direction.
At least two objections have been filed with the city over the proposed rezoning, including from the owner of a home on Kennard Street in the larger proposed project area, according to council documents. The owner, Leon Nard, said he enjoyed living in his property overlooking Lake Michigan and didn't want to sell.
Another area resident, Eunice Ladd, who lives on Genesee Street across from the proposed apartment buildings, filed an objection as well. She said she lives on retirement income, which covers her current expenses but would not cover the costs of having to move.
Residents would not be forced to move under the proposed revitalization plan, Cunningham said, adding that some residents may also be eligible for programs that freeze their property taxes in case property values start to climb.
[email protected]
Twitter @mekcoleman | Emily K. Coleman | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/news/ct-lns-waukegan-sheridan-zoning-st-0103-20170102-story.html | UNDEFINED |
59,607,114 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | After losing son to gun violence, mom helps youths fight lure of gangs | null | Patricia Frontain can still hear her son singing "Happy Birthday" to her for the last time — just hours before he was shot and killed.
"I can still hear it in my head," Frontain said in a recent interview in her Des Plaines home, pointing to a chair at the dining room table where her son, Patrick Boswell, sat that night. "His voice was changing. It was the first time I heard him sing as a man. I told him, 'Patrick, you have a wonderful voice.'"
Patrick, just 14, was shot in the back of the head the night of Jan. 2, 2015, after a reputed gang member fired a gun into a crowd that included rival gang members, authorities said.
Earlier that evening, Patrick had asked his parents if he could play basketball with friends after celebrating his mother's 55th birthday, but he ended up going to meet a new friend at an apartment complex in nearby Rosemont. It was there that he was shot.
Now, nearly two years since that night, Frontain said she has found a way to channel her grief and try to help other mothers avoid her nightmare. A little more than a year after Patrick's death, Frontain started Patrick Lives On ... To End Gun Violence — a nonprofit aimed at supporting after-school programs, summer camps and other activities that could keep young people from the lure of gangs.
"It's still surreal, like he's going to walk through the door any second," Frontain said, through tears. "My head knows he's not, but my heart doesn't."
Patricia Frontain, Zoe Frontain Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune Patricia Frontain, left, and her 12-year-old daughter, Zoe, in the backstage area of the set of "Chicago P.D." at Cinespace Studios in Chicago on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016. Patricia Frontain, left, and her 12-year-old daughter, Zoe, in the backstage area of the set of "Chicago P.D." at Cinespace Studios in Chicago on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Part of that shock lies in the fact that Frontain never suspected her son, whom she said was a popular and active student at school, could meet such a fate. And while she acknowledges Patrick had recently met and befriended a boy with gang ties, he was, she said, naive to the dangers of suburban gangs, not seeing them as a threat like the ones that plague the most violent neighborhoods in the city.
Frontain said she hopes her group can help children, especially those who think joining a gang is their only option, while also spreading the word that no one, in the city or suburbs, is immune to gang violence.
"I could go under the covers, but the idea of another mother feeling this ...? If I can help some kids that maybe don't have a choice, or maybe need a little encouragement to go the other way, I will," she said. "Because the suburban kids don't know what to do."
Star power
Frontain is also using her platform as a script supervisor for the NBC series "Chicago P.D." to spread the word. Actors from the show, as well as other series in the franchise — "Chicago Fire," "Chicago Med" and the upcoming "Chicago Justice" — have already lent their talent during a fundraising variety show in September that supported the foundation. The actors will also star in public service announcements, she said.
The organization has raised about $50,000 so far, mostly through the fundraiser, said Frontain, who hopes to make it an annual event and already is planning next September's show.
"I have all these actors. What can I do?" Frontain said she thought to herself when she was brainstorming ideas for a nonprofit.
One of those actors, Harvey native LaRoyce Hawkins, who plays Detective Kevin Atwater on "Chicago P.D.," came up with the idea for the variety show, Frontain said, and continues to help her mission.
"The cast and crew (of all the 'Chicago' shows), we're family," Hawkins said. Patrick's death "traumatically affected all of us."
"We just wanted to help her deal with the situation as best we knew how ... and also grow from it," he added. "I wasn't surprised when she said she wanted to do more than just mourn; she wanted to strengthen mothers who are in this situation, or might find themselves in this situation. I thought it was a great way to attack the situation."
For Hawkins, the tragedy hits home. His young cousin was shot and killed a few years ago, and, growing up in Harvey, Hawkins has seen the impact of gangs. He said he's lucky that his strong family, faith and talent kept him from going down that road.
"I was raised in a household that was in the 'hood, but not of the 'hood," he said. "Even though I'm very familiar with the bad energy in my city ... I had the wherewithal ... to know the difference between right and wrong."
Hawkins acknowledges he "was tempted plenty of times," but he was more focused on basketball and a budding interest in acting than gangs.
"The gift of entertainment distracted me from negative things that were in my community," he said. "(Acting) became a priority for me."
Hawkins visits schools to talk about his experience growing up in Harvey and how he embraced acting and stayed out of trouble.
'A brotherhood'
Frontain hopes her organization can promote interests or provide outlets for kids who might not have anywhere to go after school by funding programs they might not be able to afford or might not have considered. So far, the Patrick Lives On foundation is responsible for scholarships with the community football league that Patrick played in, as well as classes through the Des Plaines Park District, Frontain said.
She's also working to create a similar scholarship program at the Rosemont Park District, and is in talks with counselors at elementary and junior high schools in the area who can help identify at-risk youth and how best to help them, Frontain said.
Omar Camarillo, program director at the Rosemont Park District, said he sees success with such programs.
"We all see the importance that after-school programming can be for kids, just keeping them occupied with something after school, whether it be something athletically or academically," he said. "We want kids to be involved."
The school Patrick attended — Iroquois Community School in Des Plaines — also has a Helping Hand Scholarship, Frontain said, in honor of her son, a popular student who was known to stand up to bullies.
Frontain said she's first helping groups near her community, but hopes to eventually expand her organization to fund youth programs across the country.
Although Frontain said Patrick had a loving family and a house to go home to at night, she believes he was being recruited by a new friend — a boy at another school with gang ties.
A month or two before he died, Patrick told his mother he met the boy at a fall festival and felt sorry for him because he lived in an apartment and had a troubled family life, said Frontain, who later met the boy and didn't want Patrick hanging around with him.
"That's the empathy," she said, describing how her son would stick up for his classmates, even if he didn't know them. | Kate Thayer | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-patrick-lives-on-met-20170101-story.html | UNDEFINED |
59,483,613 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | Trump tweets Chicago might need federal help on violence | null | President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to again draw attention to Chicago's struggles with surging violent crime, this time suggesting that perhaps Mayor Rahm Emanuel should seek help from the federal government.
"Chicago murder rate is record setting — 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016," Trump wrote on Twitter. "If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!"
Trump's suggestion that violence hit a record level in 2016 was off the mark, but homicides indeed rose nearly 60 percent from 2015 to the highest levels in 20 years.
Trump's tweet came the morning after "60 Minutes" aired a segment on Chicago's violence, including an interview from Emanuel's former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who said the city's Police Department was in crisis. The mayor fired McCarthy more than a year ago amid the fallout over the court-ordered release of a video showing a white police officer shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times.
Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins released a statement applauding that the president-elect was taking the crime issue seriously. Collins, though, did not directly address Trump's suggestion that Emanuel should seek federal help if he can't control the city's crime problem.
"As the president-elect knows from his conversation with the mayor, we agree the federal government has a strong role to play in public safety by funding summer jobs and prevention programming for at-risk youth, by holding the criminals who break our gun laws accountable for their crimes, by passing meaningful gun laws, and by building on the partnerships our police have with federal law enforcement," the statement said. "We are heartened he is taking this issue seriously and look forward to working with the new administration on these important efforts."
While Trump's tweet suggested the federal government might need to intervene to help Chicago in its fight against violence, the U.S. Justice Department has been conducting an investigation for more than a year into the Police Department's practices, including the use of force by officers.
The tweet wasn't the first time Trump has weighed in on Chicago's spike in violent crime.
On the campaign trail, he often singled out Chicago while calling for tougher police tactics like the controversial stop-and-frisk policy to deal with urban crime.
Stop-and-frisk was found unconstitutional by a federal judge in New York because of its overwhelming impact on minorities. New York abandoned its appeal of the ruling after Mayor Bill de Blasio took office.
"I think Chicago needs stop-and-frisk," Trump said at an event in September. "Now, people can criticize me for that or people can say whatever they want. But they asked me about Chicago and I think stop-and-frisk with good strong, you know, good strong law and order. But you have to do something. It can't continue the way it's going."
"If (police) see a person possibly with a gun or they think may have a gun, they will see the person and they'll look and they'll take the gun away," he said.
Trump also said violence in Chicago could be stopped in a week if police were "very much tougher."
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Trump during last year's election.
Emanuel met with the president-elect last month at Trump Tower in New York. While the mayor did not volunteer it, he acknowledged he and Trump discussed Chicago's violent crime.
Asked if Trump brought up Chicago's crime woes, Emanuel responded, "We talked about public safety."
Emanuel did not detail any of Trump's discussions at the meeting, but the mayor said he'd been "very clear" about his views on the issue. Emanuel said he advocated for a multifaceted approach to fighting crime from more summer jobs, after-school programs and mentoring to improved community policing, increased economic development and stiffer sentences for gun crimes.
Collins said Monday that Emanuel and Trump had not discussed Chicago's crime since their meeting last month.
[email protected]
Twitter @BillRuthhart | Bill Ruthhart | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-trump-tweet-chicago-violence-met-20170102-story.html | UNDEFINED |
52,877,338 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | In Turkey, Gunman Remains On The Loose After Deadly Nightclub Shooting | Rachel Martin talks to Sinan Ülgen, head of Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, about the attack in Istanbul, and why Turkey spent much of 2016 struggling with terrorism. | In Turkey, Gunman Remains On The Loose After Deadly Nightclub Shooting
Rachel Martin talks to Sinan Ülgen, head of Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, about the attack in Istanbul, and why Turkey spent much of 2016 struggling with terrorism. | null | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/2017/01/02/507854109/in-turkey-gunman-remains-on-the-loose-after-deadly-nightclub-shooting?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=world | LEFT |
52,909,903 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | ISIS Claims Responsibility In Turkish Nightclub Attack; U.S. Man Among The Wounded | In a statement, the Islamic State said it was responsible for the shooting attack that killed at least 39 people on Sunday. The State Department confirms a Delaware businessman is among the wounded. | ISIS Claims Responsibility In Turkish Nightclub Attack; U.S. Man Among The Wounded
Enlarge this image toggle caption Emrah Gurel/AP Emrah Gurel/AP
The Islamic State issued a statement on Monday saying it was responsible for the attack on a New Year's Eve celebration at a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, in which at least 39 people were killed.
The ISIS-linked Amaq News Agency published the statement:
"In continuation of the blessed operations that Islamic State is conducting against the protector of the cross, Turkey, a heroic soldier of the caliphate struck one of the most famous nightclubs where the Christians celebrate their apostate holiday."
NPR's Peter Kenyon reports the ISIS claim hasn't been verified.
On Sunday, Peter reported that Turkish officials identified several possible culprits for the shooting, including the Islamic State, Kurdish militants or far-left groups.
Turkey's state-run news agency says that nearly two-thirds of the people killed were foreign nationals.
Club goers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon and France are thought to have been killed.
Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP
Funerals for some of the Turkish victims began on Sunday.
A 19-year-old Arab-Israeli woman was killed in the attack. Peter reports that her father warned her not to go but she insisted — wanting to be with her friends.
Nearly 70 people were wounded in the attack, among them a 35-year-old businessman from Delaware, according to the State Department.
WCAU-TV reports that Michael Raak of South Philadelphia says his brother, William Jacob Raak, called on New Year's Eve to say he had been shot in the leg.
The search for the attacker, who has not yet been identified, is still underway, says Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Police believe he carried out the attack alone.
The Associated Press reports:
Hurriyet and Karar newspaper reports Monday cited unnamed security officials saying that authorities have determined that the gunman who killed 39 people comes from a Central Asian nation and is believed to be either from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. Police had also established similarities with the high-casualty attack at Ataturk Airport in June and was investigating whether the same IS cell carried out both attacks.
NPR's Peter Kenyon reported on Weekend All Things Considered that Turkey's prime minister says the attacker left his weapon at the scene and fled in the chaotic aftermath.
At Reina, one of Istanbul's most popular nightclubs, it's believed some 500 to 600 revelers were celebrating the start of the new year.
Reuters reports that the attacker shot at a police officer and at civilians before entering the nightclub. Many inside were said to have jumped into the neighboring Bosphorus waterway in an attempt to save themselves from the gunfire.
The U.N. Security Council condemned the attack in a statement — calling it a "heinous and barbaric terrorist attack."
Both the White House and State Department condemned the attack.
The assault on the nightclub comes just two weeks after Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by off-duty Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas and three weeks after a bomb attack killed 44 people at a football stadium in Istanbul. A Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for the latter.
Turkey, which is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, has faced numerous security threats. In all, there were at least six attacks in Turkey in 2016, claiming more than 200 lives. | Doreen Mccallister | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/02/507848348/isis-claims-responsibility-in-turkish-nightclub-attack-u-s-man-among-the-wounded?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=us | LEFT |
52,909,060 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NPR | China Says It Will Shut Down Its Ivory Trade in 2017 | After years of negotiation with wildlife conservation groups, China's government has now set a timetable to end its legal ivory trade--March 2017. | China Says It Will Shut Down Its Ivory Trade in 2017
Enlarge this image toggle caption Khalil Senosi/AP Khalil Senosi/AP
Almost a million elephants roamed Africa 25 years ago. Assessments of their population now vary, but suggest there are fewer than half that many. The main reason for the decline is ivory. Despite a 1989 ban on ivory trade, poachers continue to kill elephants for their tusks.
Now China, the destination for most of that ivory, has announced it will shut down its domestic ivory market.
Wildlife experts had thought that the international ban on ivory trade would slow or even stop the killing of elephants for their tusks. It didn't...in fact the killing got worse. That's mostly because the ban didn't cover OLDER ivory, that is, ivory taken from elephants BEFORE the 1989 ban. So people are still killing elephants but passing off their ivory as old, and therefore legal to trade.
John Robinson, with the Wildlife Conservation Society, says efforts to stop the supply of ivory at the source, in Africa, have not been very successful. "Addressing the demand is absolutely essential if we are going to deal with the poaching issues," he says.
And the biggest source of demand for ivory has been China. "Almost all the ivory is for carving," says Robinson. "China has had a history of doing so. Whole tusks are carved into elaborately assembled pieces of one kind or another."
Now China has agreed to close down that legal trade by the end of 2017. Robinson says it's an announcement conservationists have been waiting for since 2015, when U.S. and Chinese officials started negotiating an end to China's trade. "Certainly closing down domestic ivory in China will have a dramatic impact," says Robinson. "The Chinese market is the largest ivory market in the world." Says conservation expert Elly Pepper at the Natural Resources Defense Council: "It's a game changer and could be the pivotal turning point that brings elephants back from the brink of extinction."
The Chinese government has laid out an extensive plan that includes putting ivory carvers to work on existing museum pieces or other projects. The government says it will also educate the public on the consequences of ivory trading for elephant populations.
The Obama administration already has shut down almost all trade in ivory in the U.S., and several states have their own bans.
Robinson says the Chinese decision may help convince other countries that trade in ivory, such as Vietnam, the United Kingdom and Japan, to do the same. | Christopher Joyce | www.npr.org | http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/02/507601565/china-says-it-will-shut-down-its-ivory-trade-in-2017?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition | LEFT |
115,938,373 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | A Look at Some of the 39 People Killed in Istanbul Attack | A Look at Some of the 39 People Killed in Istanbul Attack | At least 39 people were killed and nearly 70 injured in the mass shooting that took place in front of and inside a popular Istanbul nightclub in the first hours of New Year's Day. The victims included citizens of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, France, Tunisia, India, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, Canada, Israel, Syria, Belgium, Germany and Russia.
Among them was a police officer and a security guard employed to keep revelers safe, a tour guide escorting visitors during a night on the town and young adults who had traveled to Turkey for the holidays.
A look at what is known so far about the victims and their nationalities.
———
Mehmet Kerim Akyil, 23, had traveled from Belgium to Istanbul for a New Year's vacation. His father, Ali Akyil, told state-run Anadolu news agency that they were a Turkish family who loved their country.
———
Bulent Sirvan Osman, 38, a married father of two from Erbil, Iraq, was in Istanbul for business, according to Anadolu.
———
Abdullah Ahmed Abbolos, a 32-year-old Palestinian living in Saudi Arabia, had come to Istanbul to celebrate the new year, Anadolu reported.
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Abis Rizvi from Mumbai was one of two Indian victims of the attack. The 49-year-old builder wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie "Roar: The Tigers of Sunderbans," in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers.
The other Indian victim was named as Khushi Shah, a fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
———
Hatice Karcilar, a 29-year-old private security guard, was among the Turkish victims of the attack, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. She is survived by her husband and a 3-year-old daughter, it said.
———
Turkish police officer Burak Yildiz was shot and killed outside the Reina nightclub, Anadolu reported. The 22-year-old from the southern city of Mersin had been on the force for 1? years.
———
Ayhan Arik, a 47-year-old Turkish travel agent and a father of two, was shot in the head outside the club, reported the private Dogan news agency.
———
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry identified three of its citizens among the dead as Elias Wardini, Rita Shami and Haikal Musalam. The wounded included Bushra El Douaihy, the daughter of parliament member Estephan El Douaihy, it said.
———
Leanne Nasser, an 18-year-old Arab-Israeli from the town of Tira, was celebrating with friends when the gunman broke in and opened fire. Ruaa Mansour, also 18, was moderately wounded in the attack. Two other friends were unharmed.
———
The U.S. State Department confirmed that a 35-year-old Delaware businessman originally from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, wounded in the attack.
William Jacob Raak told the Dogan news agency that he was in the club with nine people, seven of whom were shot. Raak suffered a leg wound.
———
France's foreign minister says one French citizen was killed and three others wounded in the shooting.
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement that a woman with both French and Tunisian citizenship died in the attack early Sunday. The woman's Tunisian husband also died, he said.
———
Dubai-based broadcaster Al Arabiya reported that seven people from Saudi Arabia were killed and 10 were wounded in the attack.
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Two people from Bavaria are among the dead, according to Germany's Foreign Ministry.
Spokesman Martin Schaefer declined to name them, but said it appeared one was a German-Turkish dual citizen and the other was believed to have had only Turkish nationality. Three German citizens were wounded in the attack, he said.
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Jordan's Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens were killed and six were wounded in the attack.
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Kuwait's Consul-General Mohammad Fahad al-Mohammad said one Kuwaiti was killed and five others were wounded in the shooting. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/39-people-killed-istanbul-attack-44511762 | CENTER |
59,519,245 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | Israeli police question Netanyahu over corruption allegation | null | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was grilled by police investigators for over three hours at his official residence Monday night, opening what could be a politically damaging criminal investigation into suspicions that he improperly accepted gifts from wealthy supporters.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, but the involvement of the national fraud squad indicated questions raised about him are considered serious enough to merit an investigation. Police said Netanyahu was questioned "under caution," a term signaling that anything he said could be used as evidence against him.
Israel's Justice Ministry later issued a statement saying Netanyahu was questioned "on suspicion of receiving benefits from business people."
The ministry said investigators also had looked into suspicions of campaign finance irregularities and double billing for travel expenses, but determined there was not enough evidence to merit criminal charges.
Netanyahu has denied what he calls "baseless" reports about the investigation.
"We've been paying attention to reports in the media, we are hearing the celebratory mood and the atmosphere in the television studios and the corridors of the opposition, and I would like to tell them, stop with the celebrations, don't rush," he told a meeting of lawmakers from his Likud Party earlier Monday. "There won't be anything because there is nothing."
Israel's Channel 2 TV has said that Netanyahu accepted "favors" from businessmen in Israel and abroad and that he is the central suspect in a second investigation that also involves family members.
The newspaper Haaretz said billionaire Ronald Lauder, a longtime friend of Netanyahu's, was linked to the affair. Channel 10 TV has reported that Netanyahu's oldest son, Yair, accepted free trips and other gifts from Australian billionaire James Packer.
In late September, Lauder was summoned by police for questioning "related to a certain investigation conducted by them and in which Mr. Lauder is not its subject matter," said Helena Beilin, Lauder's Israeli attorney. "After a short meeting, he was told that his presence is no longer required and that there shall be no further need for additional meetings."
Netanyahu, who took office in 2009, has long had an image as a cigar-smoking, cognac-drinking socialite, while his wife, Sara, has been accused of abusive behavior toward staff. Opponents have portrayed both as being out of touch with the struggles of average Israelis.
Over the years, reports have been released about the high cost of the Netanyahus' housekeeping expenses.
In one case, he was chided for spending $127,000 in public funds for a special sleeping cabin on a flight to London. Even their costly purchases of scented candles and pistachio-flavored ice cream have been derided.
But he has never been charged with a crime. However, a mounting investigation could put pressure on him to step down, as his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, did in 2008 just months before he was formally indicted on corruption related charges. Olmert is now serving a prison sentence after being convicted of accepting bribes.
A campaign is underway by Erel Margalit, an opposition lawmaker of the Zionist Union party, seeking for Netanyahu to be formally investigated over suspicions of prominent donors improperly transferring money for the prime minister's personal use as well as reports that Netanyahu's personal attorney represented a German firm involved in a $1.5 billion sale of submarines to Israel.
The Netanyahus have denied any wrongdoing, and say they are the target of a witch hunt by the Israeli media.
Associaed Press | Tribune News Services | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-benjamin-netanyahu-investigation-20170102-story.html | UNDEFINED |
55,268,636 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | NBC News | LAPD's 1st Latina Commander, Cancer Survivor Marches in Rose Bowl Parade | Anne Clark, the LAPD's 1st Latina commander and cancer survivor is marching in the Rose Bowl parade to highlight a group working to fight cancer. | Los Angeles Police Department Commander Anne Clark is the first Latina to hold that job in the force, and she made this historic accomplishment while undergoing radiation therapy to battle cancer. In Monday's iconic Rose Bowl Parade, Commander Clark is marching to put attention to the disease and thank those who have helped her.
In August 2014, doctors found a mass in Clark's chest. She was diagnosed with stage-1 Hodgkin's lymphoma. The cancer diagnosis was scary, especially for her young son. Clark underwent four months of chemotherapy, then follow-up radiation therapy. It was grueling, and she suffered from massive headaches and barely was able to eat. But the treatment was successful and she has been in remission ever since.
"If you're going to have cancer, it's a good one to have," Clark joked. "It is my understanding that it is one of the most well studied forms of cancer, and the standard of care and treatment is well established."
While in the last legs of her treatment in February 2015, Clark learned that after nearly 30 years with the LAPD, she had been promoted to Commander, the first Hispanic woman to hold this position in the force.
LAPD Commander Anne Clark photographed with her son Matteo while she underwent treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma in late 2014. She is the first Latina to be promoted to Commander in the LAPD. Maura Siefring
"I got the phone call when I was off finishing my cancer treatment, which is even more remarkable," Clark said. "I came back to work in February 2015 into the rank of Commander with a whole new set of responsibilities."
"I am incredible grateful for the emotional support I received from the force — from the chief down," Clark said. Members of the force volunteered to take her to treatments and were a big source of help and encouragement.
Clark decided to take her experiences as a Latina and cancer survivor her as march with the City of Hope, a cancer research fund, in the Rose Bowl Parade. There she will highlight the work of her oncologist and the LAPD.
"I want to put a human face to us," Clark said. "I think sometimes that gets lost in the contemporary media message. I want to show that those of us in uniform end up having cancer like anyone else. We have struggles like any other human being."
RELATED: Wichita, Kansas Gets First Latino, Formerly Undocumented Deputy Police Chief
Clark is a second-generation Mexican American who was born and raised in L.A. County. She said her mother grew up in a time when discrimination against Latinos was overt and rampant.
"I think it has made me very sensitive to how very difficult life is for people who are immigrants or first generation Americans," Clark said. "I was raised on the stories of my mother living in 1940s and 1950s Los Angeles."
Clark has had a storied career in the LAPD, working to fight gangs and drugs, doing patrol work and working on internal affairs.
"As a woman I feel like a minority in the organization, especially in police work in general," Clark said. "The reality is that if you work hard and prove yourself, you are treated as an equal. In this department, hard work is its own reward, and it has been for my whole career here."
Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. | Brian Latimer | www.nbcnews.com | http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/lapd-s-1st-latina-commander-cancer-survivor-marches-rose-bowl-n701011 | CENTER |
59,459,272 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Chicago Tribune | With computers unsafe, a volunteer emerges to be Trump's message courier | null | I'm going to start 2017 off with something unexpected: I agree with President-elect Donald Trump.
Over the weekend, when asked about U.S. intelligence agency reports of Russian hacking during the election, Trump said, "No computer is safe."
He's absolutely right. I've been carrying a computer around in my hand for years and almost all the private thoughts I typed into an app called Twitter wound up on the internet for all to see. (Imagine my embarrassment when strangers learned that I find flatulence jokes amusing — I was aghast!)
The president-elect continued: "It's very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier."
This is an excellent idea for the modern era. Using what Trump has referred to as "the email thing" is incredibly dumb, and he should know because he's something of an expert on what he has called "the cyber."
"I know a lot about hacking," Trump said Saturday, presumably referring to computer hacking and not the age-old practice of hacking an enemy courier to death after knocking him off his bicycle and stealing his important documents. "And hacking is a very hard thing to prove."
It's also a very easy thing to avoid. Just write your most private thoughts on paper and hand that paper to a young, underpaid person with a messenger bag and hope a foreign power hasn't offered that person money or a six-pack of craft beer in exchange for your aforementioned most private thoughts.
Sure, the tech geeks out there in the dork-o-sphere will suggest that the United States bolster its cybersecurity to keep pace with other countries in an age when online attacks have already become commonplace. But Trump is not president-elect of Nerdsylvania, he's president-elect of America, and what America needs right now is a president who communicates via quill-pen-written parchments delivered by horse-riding couriers.
"I have a boy who's 10 years old, he can do anything with a computer," Trump said, inaccurately. "You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier."
Amen. It's that kind of outside-the-cyber thinking that will help America lead the world into the 19th century.
Or, as Ari Schwartz, a former National Security Council cybersecurity adviser, told the Washington Post: "We're not going back to the world of couriers and letter-writing; we're going to continue to do things online. There are ways to do it where you can manage risk, and that's really what the goal should be here — to get to the point where we can have the efficiencies and the benefits and still be secure."
(Oops. Please disregard that paragraph. It's obvious this column was hacked and a non-Russian entity inserted a quote that runs contrary to Trump's view of the world. I apologize for the error. Next time I'll transmit my column via secure bike messenger.)
OK, getting back to the incoming administration's communication system, the big question is: Who will be President-elect Trump's courier?
Great news, everyone. I've found him.
After extensive prayer, thoughtful discussions with family and hours of horse riding lessons, I've decided to volunteer my services to help make America great again.
Why me, you ask?
First off, I'm the best at keeping secrets. My Uncle Harvey has been cheating on his wife with a Mike Ditka impersonator for the past five years, and I haven't told a soul. (Don't worry, Uncle Harvey, your dark secret's safe forever!)
Second, I'm looking for a higher-paying job, and I'm pretty sure underpaid couriers make more than underpaid newspaper columnists.
Third, and most important, I'm hoping to lose weight this year, and Trump Important Message Courier sounds like a gig that will keep me on the run.
After all, the president-elect thinks every message he sends — whether through Twitter or directly from his mouth — is very important. Probably hugely important. (Many say it's quite possibly the most important message of all time, truly.)
So I imagine the Important Message Courier would be hustling 24/7 delivering handwritten tweets to Trump's roughly 18.4 million Twitter followers and riding a horse across the ocean to deliver notes into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin's pet wolf.
Count me in, Mr. President-elect. I will gladly hurl my unsafe hand computer at the nearest nerd and devote my time to securely delivering your missives, tucking them in my unhackable backpack and trotting your printed words wherever they need go.
As you said, no computer is safe. It's clear we need to get back to putting our most sensitive information in the hands of real people.
When has that ever gone wrong?
[email protected] | Rex Huppke | www.chicagotribune.com | http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/huppke/ct-trump-courier-hacking-huppke-20170102-column.html | UNDEFINED |
115,972,492 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Slain Pennsylvania Trooper's Funeral Arrangements Announced | Slain Pennsylvania Trooper's Funeral Arrangements Announced | A Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was slain on duty will be laid to rest this week.
Twenty-three-year-old Trooper Landon Weaver was shot and killed while responding to a domestic complaint Friday night in Huntingdon County, in central Pennsylvania. State police shot and killed the suspect in Weaver's death after an overnight manhunt.
Weaver graduated from the police academy last summer and was assigned to the Huntingdon barracks. He was married in June.
The John K. Bolger Funeral Home says there will be a visitation Wednesday at the Jaffa Shrine Center in Altoona. Weaver's funeral will be Thursday at the Jaffa Shrine Center. He'll be buried at Fairview Cemetery in Martinsburg.
Weaver was the 97th member of the Pennsylvania State Police to be killed in the line of duty. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/slain-pennsylvania-troopers-funeral-arrangements-announced-44511246 | CENTER |
4,514,570 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | Selfie video purportedly shows alleged Istanbul nightclub gunman | Turkish media on Tuesday ran a selfie video of a man they say is the gunman who killed 39 people, most of them foreigners, at an Istanbul nightclub. | Turkish media on Tuesday ran a "selfie video" of a man they say is the gunman who killed 39 people, most of them foreigners, at an Istanbul nightclub.
The video broadcast on Turkish television shows the alleged gunman filming himself with a cellphone at Istanbul's Taksim square. It wasn't immediately clear if it was filmed before or after the New Year's massacre at the Reina nightclub.
No details have been released as to why the authorities might think the man on the video is a suspect in New Year's attack, or how the footage was obtained.
The Islamic State group claimed the attack on Monday, saying a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the mass shooting in response to Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria.
The authorities said they were making progress in identifying the gunman, who is still at large, and that at least eight people have been detained in connection with the attack.
There were conflicting reports over the gunman's identity.
Expand / Contract This image taken from CCTV provided by Haberturk Newspaper Monday Jan. 2, 2017 shows the man identified by police as the main suspect in the New Year's Day terror attack at an Istanbul nightclub, earlier that night before the attack. (CCTV/Haberturk Newspaper via AP)
Several media outlets on Monday, citing unnamed security sources, said the man was believed to be from a Central Asian nation and may have been part of the same cell that staged a June attack on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that killed 45 people.
Haber Turk newspaper on Tuesday said the man is thought to be a member of China's Muslim Uighur minority. Without citing a source, the newspaper said he had arrived in the Turkish city of Konya with his wife and two children in order not to raise suspicions. His family members were detained, the newspaper said.
The nightclub assailant, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian in the early hours of 2017 outside the Reina club before entering and firing at some of the estimated 600 people inside. The establishment is frequented by famous locals, including singers, actors and athletes.
The mass shooting follows more than 30 violent acts that have rocked NATO member Turkey in 2016.
Turkey launched an offensive to northern Syria in August in a bid to clear a strategic border area of IS militants and contain the gains of Kurdish fighters. Turkish jets are regularly bombing IS targets in the Syrian town of al-Bab as Turkish-backed Syrian opposition force try to capture it from the extremists.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates warned its citizens not to travel to Turkey following the attack, with its Foreign Ministry issuing a terse statement in Arabic to "postpone plans to travel to Turkey until further notice."
Seven of the nightclub victims were from Saudi Arabia; three each were from Lebanon and Iraq; two each were from Tunisia, India, Morocco and Jordan. Kuwait, Canada, Israel, Syria and Russia each lost one citizen | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/03/selfie-video-purportedly-shows-alleged-istanbul-nightclub-gunman.html | RIGHT |
115,849,111 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | Gambia Opposition Warns Longtime Ruler Against 'Rebel' Moves | Gambia Opposition Warns Longtime Ruler Against 'Rebel' Moves | Gambia's political opposition said Monday that longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh could be considered a rebel leader if he takes up arms and doesn't step down later this month, a firm warning issued after the president recently vowed that any presence of foreign troops in the tiny West African nation would be tantamount to an act of war.
Two days earlier, Jammeh railed against the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS that has urged him to step down. Jammeh claims that numerous voting irregularities invalidate the Dec. 1 ballot won by opposition coalition's Adama Barrow, and Jammeh's party is challenging the results in court.
Meanwhile, Barrow says he is planning a Jan. 19 inauguration, which puts him on a collision course with Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless 1994 military coup.
Halifa Sallah, the spokesman of the opposition coalition, said Monday that Jammeh will be a private citizen as of Jan. 19, and would have no constitutional mandate to be in command of the armed forces of Gambia.
"Any president whose term of office expires who takes up arms against an incoming president whose term should begin according to law, would be regarded by the international community as a rebel leader," Sallah said in reading a statement by the coalition.
The president of ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States — has said that West African leaders will send troops into Gambia if Jammeh refuses to step down.
Barrow, ECOWAS, the African Union and U.N. have carefully calculated their steps, Sallah said, adding that Jammeh should do the same "so that no mistakes would be made that would undermine the peace and security of the country."
ECOWAS, the AU and the UN, however, would not need to manage Gambian affairs if the constitution is followed, and a peaceful transition is made, Barrow has said, urging Jammeh to open up a channel of communication, according to the coalition statement.
The coalition statement also comes a day after intelligence agents ordered two radio stations to shut down — Taranga FM and Hill Top Radio.
Hill Top Radio chief executive Basiru Darboe said three men identifying as National Intelligence Agents said the shutdown orders came from the outgoing president, but no reasons were given.
The Jammeh regime has long been accused of imprisoning, torturing and killing its opponents.
———
AP writer Abdoulie John in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gambia-opposition-warns-ousted-ruler-rebel-moves-44513774 | CENTER |
115,883,758 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | ABC News | France's Holland Starts Official Visit to Iraq | France's Holland Starts Official Visit to Iraq | French President Francois Hollande has arrived in Iraq amid a fierce fight against the Islamic State group.
During his one-day visit which started on Monday, Hollande is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the capital, Baghdad. Later, he'll travel to the country's self-governing northern Kurdish region to meet French troops and local officials.
The visit comes as Iraqi troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are fighting IS in a massive operation to retake the northern city of Mosul.
France is part of the U.S.-led international coalition formed in late 2014 to fight IS after the extremist group seized large areas in Iraq and neighboring Syria and declaring an Islamic "caliphate." Like some European countries, France has suffered terrorist attacks claimed by IS. | Abc News | abcnews.go.com | http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/frances-holland-starts-official-visit-iraq-44508058 | CENTER |
4,499,093 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Fox News | A look at some of the 39 people killed in Istanbul attack | At least 39 people were killed and nearly 70 injured in the mass shooting that took place in front of and inside a popular Istanbul nightclub in the first hours of New Year's Day. | At least 39 people were killed and nearly 70 injured in the mass shooting that took place in front of and inside a popular Istanbul nightclub in the first hours of New Year's Day. The victims included citizens of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, France, Tunisia, India, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, Canada, Israel, Syria, Belgium, Germany and Russia.
Among them was a police officer and a security guard employed to keep revelers safe, a tour guide escorting visitors during a night on the town and young adults who had traveled to Turkey for the holidays.
A look at what is known so far about the victims and their nationalities.
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Mehmet Kerim Akyil, 23, had traveled from Belgium to Istanbul for a New Year's vacation. His father, Ali Akyil, told state-run Anadolu news agency that they were a Turkish family who loved their country.
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Bulent Sirvan Osman, 38, a married father of two from Erbil, Iraq, was in Istanbul for business, according to Anadolu.
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Abdullah Ahmed Abbolos, a 32-year-old Palestinian living in Saudi Arabia, had come to Istanbul to celebrate the new year, Anadolu reported.
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Abis Rizvi from Mumbai was one of two Indian victims of the attack. The 49-year-old builder wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie "Roar: The Tigers of Sunderbans," in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers.
The other Indian victim was named as Khushi Shah, a fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
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Hatice Karcilar, a 29-year-old private security guard, was among the Turkish victims of the attack, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. She is survived by her husband and a 3-year-old daughter, it said.
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Turkish police officer Burak Yildiz was shot and killed outside the Reina nightclub, Anadolu reported. The 22-year-old from the southern city of Mersin had been on the force for 1½ years.
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Ayhan Arik, a 47-year-old Turkish travel agent and a father of two, was shot in the head outside the club, reported the private Dogan news agency.
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The Lebanese Foreign Ministry identified three of its citizens among the dead as Elias Wardini, Rita Shami and Haikal Musalam. The wounded included Bushra El Douaihy, the daughter of parliament member Estephan El Douaihy, it said.
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Leanne Nasser, an 18-year-old Arab-Israeli from the town of Tira, was celebrating with friends when the gunman broke in and opened fire. Ruaa Mansour, also 18, was moderately wounded in the attack. Two other friends were unharmed.
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The U.S. State Department confirmed that a 35-year-old Delaware businessman originally from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, wounded in the attack.
William Jacob Raak told the Dogan news agency that he was in the club with nine people, seven of whom were shot. Raak suffered a leg wound.
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France's foreign minister says one French citizen was killed and three others wounded in the shooting.
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement that a woman with both French and Tunisian citizenship died in the attack early Sunday. The woman's Tunisian husband also died, he said.
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Dubai-based broadcaster Al Arabiya reported that seven people from Saudi Arabia were killed and 10 were wounded in the attack.
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Two people from Bavaria are among the dead, according to Germany's Foreign Ministry.
Spokesman Martin Schaefer declined to name them, but said it appeared one was a German-Turkish dual citizen and the other was believed to have had only Turkish nationality. Three German citizens were wounded in the attack, he said.
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Jordan's Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens were killed and six were wounded in the attack.
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Kuwait's Consul-General Mohammad Fahad al-Mohammad said one Kuwaiti was killed and five others were wounded in the shooting. | null | www.foxnews.com | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/look-at-some-3-people-killed-in-istanbul-attack.html | RIGHT |
55,072,209 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Los Angeles Times | Investigators seek driver of silver Maserati that crashed into CHP patrol car | null | Investigators were searching for the male driver of a silver Maserati who crashed his car into a California Highway Patrol vehicle before fleeing on foot in North Hollywood last week.
Officers attempted to pull over a Maserati with paper plates on the 170 Freeway shortly before 8:30 p.m. Friday for reckless driving and speeding, according to Officer Peter Nicholson of the CHP’s transportation management center.
The driver of the Maserati sped off and was pursued for about 10 minutes until he collided with the patrol car near the intersection of St. Clair Avenue and Vose Street, according to authorities. An officer sustained a minor injury to his hand, Nicholson said.
The driver abandoned the car and fled on foot; his female passenger was detained and questioned by authorities, and later released, Nicholson said.
No other information was immediately available. Anyone with information was asked to contact the CHP’s West Valley division at (818) 888-0980.
[email protected]
For more California news, follow me on Twitter @vicjkim
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The family of this San Bernardino terror attack victim is telling his story to anyone who will listen | Victoria Kim | www.latimes.com | http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-silver-maserati-chp-collission-20170102-story.html | LEFT |
55,106,594 | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 | Los Angeles Times | SpaceX says failure of helium storage tank caused September rocket explosion | null | Four months after a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on a Florida launch pad, SpaceX has determined that the cause was a failed composite overwrapped pressure vessel used to store liquid helium.
In the final update to its investigation released Monday, the Hawthorne space company said one of three such tanks in the rocket’s larger, second-stage liquid oxygen tank failed, probably after a buildup of liquid oxygen between the vessel’s aluminum inner liner and its carbon overwrap ignited.
In November, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk described the cause of the explosion as something that has “never been encountered before in the history of rocketry.”
The company said its accident investigation team — made up of officials from SpaceX, NASA, the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and industry experts — found “buckles,” or valleys, in the vessels’ inner liners.
Super-chilled liquid oxygen can gather in buckles, and when pressurized, the oxygen can get trapped. Then, “breaking fibers or friction can ignite the oxygen in the overwrap,” causing the vessel to fail, SpaceX said.
The company also said the loading temperature of the helium was cold enough to create solid oxygen, “which exacerbates the possibility of oxygen becoming trapped as well as the likelihood of friction ignition.”
To fix this issue in the short term, SpaceX said it will change the configuration of the composite overwrapped pressure vessels “to allow warmer temperature helium to be loaded.” It will also change helium loading operations to a “prior flight proven configuration” that is based on procedures that were used in hundreds of successful loads.
SpaceX plans to eventually change the design of the vessels to prevent buckles, which the company said will allow for faster loading operations.
The company is now targeting Jan. 8 for its return to flight, pending FAA approval. SpaceX plans to launch 10 satellites for Iridium Communications Inc. from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
[email protected]
For more business news, follow me @smasunaga | Samantha Masunaga | www.latimes.com | http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-spacex-explosion-cause-20170102-story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fbusiness+%28L.A.+Times+-+Business%29 | LEFT |